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Delivered Monday through Friday!
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May 15,
2008
The Happy Farmer
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Joy from the Monastery |
Thoughts from Sister Patricia
Visit Sr. Patricia's blog
to leave a comment and share with others about this topic.
St Isidore the Farmer
For more beautiful cards All Cards
Quote for the Day:
Prayer means a launching out of the heart towards God;
it means lifting up one?s eyes, quite simply, to heaven,
a cry of grateful love, from the crest of joy
or the trough of despair;
it?s a vast, supernatural force that opens
out my heart and binds me close to Jesus.
St. Therese of Lisieux
Quote from the book, "101 Inspirational Stories of the Power of Prayer"
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It's been a long, long day. I got Sr. Colleen to the airport by five o'clock as planned. Make good time at that hour of the morning as all the stoplights are flashing yellows rather than actual red, green and yellow stops. Nice. Not usually out at the hour of the day so forgot about that.
I didn't get a lot of sleep... four and a half hours which is not bad considering Sr. Colleen only got three. I hope she wasn't as grumpy as I was. Geesh. I just do not do well toughing it! I did get an hour's nap later which got me through the day. Thank you Lord.. I'm sure the rest of the community was thankful too!
Sometimes I read Danielle's blog and the whole realization of how "little" sleep parents often get.. fills me with the greatest admiration! The Lord knows whose doing the real penance in the world. Tain't necessarily in the Monastery!
It's definitely Spring over here. Pi is determined to be on the move. I have an old window screen to sort of contain her to her part of the office. She's figured out how to break through....so I put a big, heavy phone book in front of the screen to hold it tight. Didn't work. She just works her little beak in a narrow slot between the wall and the screen.. then pushes, pushes, pushes till her head is through and then wiggle, wiggle, wiggle AND we are free!
Then she's so happy with herself for her breakout that she starts chortling about it. So I have to be careful not to step on her as I run and close the office door so she doesn't head out down the hall. I usually let her stay out for a little bit and then sort of herd in back into confinement again and try to reinforce the screen even better! So far she's sort of content after one breakout to maintain for the rest of the day.
Who knew birds had such perseverance and determination?
Blessings of Peace and All Good!
Sister Patricia.
P.S. I heard that the books should be back from the binder on Monday! So... won't be long now! Yeah!
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Reverend Fun
Motivational
Meditation
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The Fragile Sand Dollar
Sharon R. Friel
San Francisco, California
I was not raised in any faith, Christian or otherwise, and did not have any idea of how much God loved and cared for me, for all of us, so what happened came as a total surprise.
It seemed that I had failed at everything I ever tried in life. I dropped out of high school with learning disabilities. I was not able to hold a job because of emotional outbursts and disorganization. I had so much emotional pain bottled inside of me that I could see no way out.
Then I made a horrible decision to start using drugs. Crack cocaine. A guy gave it to me saying, “It’s not like heroin, you won’t get addicted.” Stupidly, I believed him. Within two days, I was addicted and became violently ill if I could not smoke it. My raging outbursts became worse, not better. I could not sleep.
It was not long before I was unemployed, homeless, and involved in crime. I was always freezing cold, starving, and thirsty. Every year I would get pneumonia. I was frequently in jail, dirty, or in the emergency room from violent assaults. I was so miserable; I was literally losing my mind. The world hates you when you are in that state, but it did not compare to the self-hatred I felt.
Crack cocaine was a life-controlling obsession. I could not go three minutes without thinking about it. Even after it burned my lungs and I had to have lung surgery to remove a lobe of one lung, I still craved the drug. The minute I was released from the hospital I went right back to chasing it.
I was full of despair, seemingly cut off from the world and any chance of a normal life. Every day I experienced violence, hatred and meanness in the streets. I wondered if there was any hope for anyone.
My first ray of light came in November of 1999 when I had a friend who actually lived in a house with a mailing address. This was very
More
http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/monasticmoments/archives/138916.asp
From the book 101 Inspirational Stories of the Power of Prayer
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Rejoice in Me
by Msgr. David E. Rosage
Light and Life
Ps 36:10-11
For with you is the fountain of life,
and in your light we see light.
Keep up your kindness toward your friends,
your just defense of the upright of heart.
Light in scriptural language signifies the presence of God. Light is also symbolic of his goodness which is the source of our happiness.
In the light of God's presence we can see more clearly how we fit into the jigsaw puzzle of life. We must fulfill our role, otherwise the picture will never be complete.
When we cannot see the pattern of life, we beg God in his goodness and kindness to guide us.
Jesu made this thought quite clear when he said:
"I am the light of the world.
No follower of mine shall ever walk in darkness;
no, he shall possess the light of life. (Jn 8:12)
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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.
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A Smile from Home - Danielle Bean
Today's Thought
Visit Danielle's Blog to see
pictures and links to go with this text.
I won’t name names
But I will beg you — beg you — to tell me how to stop a toddler-baby from putting his hands into his diaper when long pants don’t stop him, onesies don’t stop him, and scolding, removing, and distracting don’t stop him either.
Something’s got to work here. Duct tape? Hypnosis? What?
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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…
The numbers game
…except that it is not a game. It is a tragedy beyond anything that most of us can conceive.
During the past few days, we’ve heard a great deal about the devastation caused by Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar and the earthquake in China. Today we heard that there might be another cyclone heading towards Myanmar.
For most people, it is difficult to imagine 15,000 individuals, never mind 15,000 bodies, as there are in China, or the 40,000 who are missing. It is even more difficult to ‘see’ the 100,000 who have probably died in Myanmar.
For my part, I use St. Peter’s Square as a convenient measure. When the crowds gather to hear the pope for his weekly General Audience on a Wednesday, or for his Angelus Message on a Sunday, there are usually approximately 50,000 people packed into the Square.
If we add the figures for China and Myanmar, however crude an estimate they might be, then we are speaking of a minimum of 115,000 people who have died during the past few days, or roughly three times the crowd in St. Peter’s Square. There are, roughly, ten times that sized crowd who are missing.
Some of the major Vatican Radio broadcasts, such as at Christmas or Easter, might have as many as 40 million potential listeners, so there must be way in excess of that number who listen to, or watch, the news on radio and television at any one time across the world. I am not a mathematician, but that means that the number of people who have been touched by the suffering in Asia at this present time is in excess of 800 times the crowd in St. Peter’s Square, or ten times the massive crowds who gathered for the funeral of Pope John Paul and for the Inauguration of Pope Benedict. That is a vast mass of humanity, far more than the majority of us can possibly imagine. It is an incredible force of prayer, sympathy, compassion and solidarity for the people of China and Myanmar.
There must have been so many prayers during the past few days, offered silently and also publicly for those who have been caught up in such catastrophic circumstances, circumstances far beyond anything they could ever have imagined would become their own experiences. I am sure that those who died must also be praying for those who survived and for those working to alleviate the suffering.
The world really is a global village if we consider ‘the numbers game’. It is a community in spite of differences of ‘tribe and tongue and people and nation’.
May God grant eternal rest to all those who have died and courage, strength, perseverance and hope to those who remain.
God bless,
Sr. Janet
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Spiritual Blessings from Father Rory Pitstick
A Virtual Retreat
Reflections following the Daily Liturgical cycle
Visit Fr. Rory's Blog
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Thursday
Jas 2: 1-9
Ps 33(34): 2-3. 4-5. 6-7
Mk 8: 27-33
Daily Readings
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May 15 Thu: Ordinary Weekday/ Isidore the Farmer, mm
From today's readings:
“Did not God choose those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the Kingdom that He promised to those who love Him?... The Lord hears the cry of the poor.... He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and rise after three days.”
Preferential Treatment
When we focus on minor details, it’s tempting to dismiss scripture as archaic and inapplicable to our modern situations. But when we look at the big picture and main points, it’s almost uncanny how pertinent and timely are the insights of the Word of God.
St. James, echoing the teachings of Christ, insisted on the equal dignity of all people, rich or poor. The image of a rich man with gaudy golden rings might seem ridiculously ostentatious for modern taste (and therefore not overly impressive), but of course the essential point is not how he is dressed, but how he is treated because of his wealth. And today, as well as the time St. James wrote, we continue to give rich people preferential treatment.
But our Christian faith calls us instead to give preferential treatment to the poor, recognizing in them our Lord Jesus, who said, “Whatsoever you do to the least of My brothers, that you do unto Me!”
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