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Delivered Monday through Friday!
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May 16,
2008
And I Love You So
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Joy from the Monastery |
Thoughts from Sister Patricia
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St Margaret of Cortona
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 Our Sharing the Book Duck
My friend Barb came over and we started working on putting a little brochure together that we can send out with the free books... basically a list of suggestions. We decided Mister Duck here would be the best bird to be in charge of the book promotions. He has that proper worried look of someone who is just not real sure its all going to work out.. but he'll do his best.
Well, yesterday I decided I had had it with my office and I decided no matter how many deadlines I had - I was going to take a break and clean my office, or at least make an attempt. It was definitely starting to wear me down. Besides when one is tired and grumpy what better time to make decisions on what to keep and throw away? Throw everything! Who cares. Just get rid of it for heaven's sake.
I spent an hour yesterday and half an hour today.. and I already feel better. In fact, I have made this resolution to clean a half hour every day. Wouldn't that be something? Well, you know the thing is they say the average person spends an hour a day looking for stuff they can't find and of course I'm way below the average person. So who knows how much time I spend.. and I decided it would be better to spend a half hour cleaning than an hour looking!
Course I don't have much confidence in sticking to it... every single day.. because life just sort of gets in the way of all my best intentions.. but even a few times a week would definitely be an improvement. Anyway I will keep it up till Sr. Colleen gets back and I can make a new 2 miniute video of the New and Improved Office! (Have to wait till she gets back cause she took the camera).
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Saint of the day
Reverend Fun
Motivational
Meditation
from Greatday.com
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Miracle After Miracle
Lillian J. DeOliveira
East Providence, Rhode Island
I have experienced so many miracles in my life that I could sit you down and talk for days about them. Miracle after miracle. Some people may say they are just coincidences, but to me they aren’t. I will share two of them with you, both of them having to do with home heating oil.
One evening when my finances were at a very low point, I was deeply discouraged and didn’t know what to do. I went to a prayer meeting that night and Father Bob approached me. He must have noticed how low I was feeling.
“How are things going, Lill?” he asked.
I half mumbled a discouraged reply. “I need oil and I don’t know how to get it.”
I was expecting a few words of consolation but instead he laughed! Just laughed, right out loud. That made me mad; I mean, I sure didn’t think this was funny.
Then he told me the good news. That very afternoon a gentleman had come to him and said he wanted to give a hundred gallons of oil to someone in need. “Lill,” the priest said, “That oil is for you.”
Another time, soon after having heart surgery, my finances and my spirits were the lowest they had ever been. My husband had just been fired from his job because of his drinking, and I had quit my job because of the heart operation. We had no income. On that cold winter night, I sat at the kitchen table with my checkbook, trying to figure out how to pay the electric bill, and how I was going to get some oil. I had received a notice that the electricity would be shut off the next day, and I had no oil to heat our home. I only had enough money to pay for one or the other. Everything seemed totally overwhelming. We had two small children, and I knew they would freeze without heat in the house. But I knew that even if I did get oil, I wouldn’t be able to use it because I needed electricity to start the heater. I had to have the electricity. I sat there for hours trying to figure out what to do.
Around eleven o’clock that night, I finally gave up. I took the checkbook, threw it in the drawer, and shouted at the Lord, “You said you would take care of us, so do it!” and went to bed.
The next morning, around eight thirty, I got a phone call from my ex-boss. He said he had a check waiting for me and told me to come pick it up. It was from profit sharing, and because I had worked there in January, they had to give it to me. It was for $1,777.68.
I was so excited I could hardly believe it! I knew it was a miracle. It had happened so quickly, so fast. Part of me was upset that I had gotten angry with God, but a bigger part of me was filled with joy that He took care of us so promptly!
I must have floated on air for months. Never had I felt God so near, so caring. It made a wonderful difference in how I faced the weeks of recovery, taking care of my kids, and staying with my husband through very hard times.
The Lord rescued me even though I was angry, and He gave me more than I needed. I was able to pay the electric bill, get oil, and even had some left for groceries.
So you see, once I turned my troubles over to God, He worked them out. I have never forgotten those miracles, and I know that God is always there for us. Not that I don’t have bad times—I could share a lot of those with you too—but time after time I continue to receive miracles, small ones and big ones, that see me through life’s challenges.
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From the book 101 Inspirational Stories of the Power of Prayer
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Rejoice in Me
by Msgr. David E. Rosage
Bountiful Harvest
Ps 67:7
The earth has yielded its fruits;
God, our God, has blessed us.
May God bless us,
and may all the ends of the earth fear him!
Harvest time is that season which reminds us very forcefully of God's divine providence. The golden grain of the fields, the luscious fruit of the trees and vines as well as the abundance of nourishing vegetables all manifess the goodness of God.
The warm sunshine, the rich soil, and the lift-giving rain are all blessings which our provident Father showers upon us.
Jesus taught us to be grateful by his own example: "Jesus then took the loaves of bread, gave thanks, and passed them around to those reclining there." (Jn 6:11)
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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.
Beside Ourselves
Did you know that Prince Caspian comes out tomorrow? Did you? Did you? Did you?
Did you know that the director put in some scenes where Prince Caspian and Susan kinda sorta fall in love and maybe even kiss? Did you? Did you? Did you?
Did you know that you can view trailers online, participate in forums, and even take a quiz to find out “Which Narnia character are you?” Did you Did you? Did you?
It’s going to be a long 24 hours.
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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…
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Spiritual Blessings from Father Rory Pitstick
A Virtual Retreat
Reflections following the Daily Liturgical cycle
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Friday
Jas 2: 14-24. 26
Ps 111(112): 1-2.
3-4. 5-6
Mk 8: 34 – 9: 1
Daily Readings
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May 16 Fri: Ordinary Weekday
From today's readings:
“Do you want proof, you ignoramus, that faith without works is useless?... Blessed the man who greatly delights in the Lord’s commands.... What profit is there for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? ”
Faith Without Works is Dead
In the most famous passage from his letter, St. James insists that “faith without works is dead” and such faith cannot save! This point is actually reiterated other times in the letter (as well as elsewhere in Scripture), but nowhere in the Bible more emphatically than in this passage, which clearly explains the inter-dependency of faith and works.
There is, of course, a well-known controversy here. Martin Luther, disturbed by the balance St. James defended of faith and works, dismissed this letter as “an epistle of straw.” Luther maintained that, in regards to justification, the emphasis should shift completely to faith, with the deliberate exclusion of works! In his defense, Luther quoted from chapter 3, verse 28 of St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans “for we hold that a man is justified by faith apart from works of law!” To insure his central dogma wouldn’t be missed, Luther even added the word “alone” in the translation he prepared, “man is justified by faith ALONE apart from works of law!”
But do St. Paul and St. James really contradict each other? As always, the apparent difficulties are cleared up by reading the texts in context. In his letter to the Romans, St. Paul writes about genuine, active faith in God, whereas St. James is here distinguishing that same Pauline living faith from deceptive, dead faith. In one of the hardest-hitting, but often overlooked verses in all of scripture, St. James reminds everyone that, Even the demons believe in God --and shudder! In other words, to the man who says, “I believe in God...” and thinks he thereby has Heaven sewn up because he’s doing God some big favor by simply acknowledging His existence, St. James is so clear that that is not enough - even the demons believe in God’s existence! That kind of minimal, deceptive, dead faith can’t save!
Likewise, Paul’s dismissal of works is in fact, reconcilable with James’ endorsement of works because, from the context, note that it’s clear Paul is specifically discounting works of the law of the Old Testament - circumcision, for instance, whereas James is talking about the good works which embody Christian faith, such as feeding the hungry and clothing the naked.
Now, those corporal works of mercy remind us of what Jesus said about the Last Judgment: (This excerpt from Matthew chapter 25): “Then the King will say to those at His right hand, 'Come, O blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave Me food,” and “I was naked and you clothed Me... ” All those good works mentioned by Jesus are explicitly linked by Him as reasons for inheriting His Kingdom.
Now, let’s be clear: St. James is NOT saying, and as Catholics, we do not, I repeat, we DO NOT believe good works in themselves can ever earn justification and salvation apart from God’s grace - in fact, that idea is a heresy, a form of Pelegianism. Good works can help prepare for faith, good works give essential witness to a living faith, good works, as Jesus Himself explains, are a way of welcoming and serving Christ and freely cooperating with God’s grace, but removed from that amazing, saving grace, good works in themselves do not earn salvation, and the Catholic Church, following St. James and the whole of Scripture, is very clear about these points.
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