January 29, 2009
January 28, 2009
for those of you who may have my e-mail.... if you have received any mail from me past 6:30 am this morning, please disregard it. The last time I was able to sign in was before I left for work around 6am this morning (1/28/09) and sometime between then and when I got home at 8pm, my password was changed and my account is compromised. I pray this causes you no trouble or harm.
I will be sure to let you know when the account is safe again. I have begun a new account, but if you would kindly comment on this note with your e-mail i will send you my new info. The comments will not get published, as I will read it, reply via e-mail and delete so that nobody besides myself sees your e-mail address.
thank you
I will be sure to let you know when the account is safe again. I have begun a new account, but if you would kindly comment on this note with your e-mail i will send you my new info. The comments will not get published, as I will read it, reply via e-mail and delete so that nobody besides myself sees your e-mail address.
thank you
January 25, 2009
Diocesan Priests
The Lord has recently inspired me to pray quite fervently for diocesan priests. This is a job for all of the faithful, and especially for all religious. I am curious to know if anyone has information on orders which may have a particular charism to pray for diocesan priests directly and by name. Feel free to comment with any information you may have or idea on where I can search for this information.
Thank you in advance.
God bless!
January 24, 2009
A Prayer for Priests
Lord Jesus, You have chosen your priests from among us and sent them out to proclaim your word and act in Your Name.
For so great a gift to Your Church, we praise You and give You thanks. We ask You to fill them with the fire of Your love, that their ministry may reveal Your presence in the Church. Since they are earthen vessels, we pray that Your power shine though their weakness. In their afflictions, let them never be crushed; in their doubts, never despair; in temptation, never be destroyed; in persecution, never abandoned. Inspire them through prayer to live each day the mystery of Your dying and rising. In times of weakness, send Your Spirit, and help them to praise Your Heavenly Father and pray for the poor sinners.
By the same Holy Spirit, put Your word on their lips and Your Love in their hearts to bring good news to the poor and healing to the broken-hearted. And may the gift of Mary, Your Mother, to the disciple whom You loved, be Your gift to every priest. Grant that she who formed You in her human image, may form them in Your Divine image, by the power of Your Spirit, to the glory of God the Father.
Amen
Take a few moments to pray for your parish priest today!
For so great a gift to Your Church, we praise You and give You thanks. We ask You to fill them with the fire of Your love, that their ministry may reveal Your presence in the Church. Since they are earthen vessels, we pray that Your power shine though their weakness. In their afflictions, let them never be crushed; in their doubts, never despair; in temptation, never be destroyed; in persecution, never abandoned. Inspire them through prayer to live each day the mystery of Your dying and rising. In times of weakness, send Your Spirit, and help them to praise Your Heavenly Father and pray for the poor sinners.
By the same Holy Spirit, put Your word on their lips and Your Love in their hearts to bring good news to the poor and healing to the broken-hearted. And may the gift of Mary, Your Mother, to the disciple whom You loved, be Your gift to every priest. Grant that she who formed You in her human image, may form them in Your Divine image, by the power of Your Spirit, to the glory of God the Father.
Amen
Take a few moments to pray for your parish priest today!
January 16, 2009
Some New Quotes to Share
All of these come from The Diary of a Country Priest. Which is a wonderful book about a young priest and his little parish. The struggle of faith and the depth of our interconnectedness as humans. How the sins and distresses of the parish are so intimately connected to their priest!
With that...
"A kid's got plenty of trouble, like everybody else, and he's really so very helpless, quite unarmed against pain and illness. Childhood and old age should be the two greatest trials of mankind, but that very sense of powerlessness is the mainspring of a child's joy."
"Joy is the gift of the Church. whatever joy is possible for this world to share"
"Monks suffer for souls, [a priest's] pain in on behalf of souls"
"My parish... The words can't even be spoken without a kind of soaring love ... my parish is a reality. We belong to each other for all eternity; ... a living cell of the everlasting Church"
I could ponder these little tidbits for a while. I leave them for you also to enjoy.
With that...
"A kid's got plenty of trouble, like everybody else, and he's really so very helpless, quite unarmed against pain and illness. Childhood and old age should be the two greatest trials of mankind, but that very sense of powerlessness is the mainspring of a child's joy."
"Joy is the gift of the Church. whatever joy is possible for this world to share"
"Monks suffer for souls, [a priest's] pain in on behalf of souls"
"My parish... The words can't even be spoken without a kind of soaring love ... my parish is a reality. We belong to each other for all eternity; ... a living cell of the everlasting Church"
I could ponder these little tidbits for a while. I leave them for you also to enjoy.
January 15, 2009
Dancing with God
A short tidbit to share with each of you about dancing...
I just went to a performance by St. Michael's Warriors and how wonderfully splendid they all are! They dance for the heart of Christ, to be one with Him and to bring the joy of our created bodies to others in a truly holy and magnificent way. After watching this and seeing the goodness of the human body, I was reminded that I failed to share with you about my own recent dancings with the Lord...
So, back to a retreat I recently went on... the Jesus Retreat. We were in Adoration on Sunday morning, music playing and people praising the Lord in various ways. One man stood up and said to us all that he felt the Lord was asking us to slow dance with Him. So, "stand up and dance with the Lord" he told us. I got up off my knees and placed my arms out in front of me, resting one on my Lord's shoulder and the other resting on His Divine arm. The music began, a gentle love song meant for a romantic encounter, and what a romantic encounter it was! I could see Him there, holding me tightly to Himself, my head resting on His strong chest, following His lead. We danced gently and He began to hold me tighter, releasing only to send me into a spin, guiding my every move, and bringing me back, ever closer to Himself.
-now let me pause to assure you I have never done this before and was under the impression that everyone else in the room was doing the same thing-
The song ceased and the music began to get a bit faster, but the Lord did not let me go, we jazzed up our style and He egged me on to get into the beat and be more free! I opened my eyes to see that I had moved to another place in the room and was facing a different direction. At that moment, the same man got up and said, "now, let us dance with one another and turn this place into a hoe-down!" A hoe-down? Well, feeling that truly these were words from the Lord I let go, hooked arms with a nearby sister and started dancing, making my way through the room and hooking into whatever arm seemed to be available. The Lord continued to dance with me... just in the body of His Church! Blessed be the Lord!
so... Dance! For He is the Lord of the Dance!
I just went to a performance by St. Michael's Warriors and how wonderfully splendid they all are! They dance for the heart of Christ, to be one with Him and to bring the joy of our created bodies to others in a truly holy and magnificent way. After watching this and seeing the goodness of the human body, I was reminded that I failed to share with you about my own recent dancings with the Lord...
So, back to a retreat I recently went on... the Jesus Retreat. We were in Adoration on Sunday morning, music playing and people praising the Lord in various ways. One man stood up and said to us all that he felt the Lord was asking us to slow dance with Him. So, "stand up and dance with the Lord" he told us. I got up off my knees and placed my arms out in front of me, resting one on my Lord's shoulder and the other resting on His Divine arm. The music began, a gentle love song meant for a romantic encounter, and what a romantic encounter it was! I could see Him there, holding me tightly to Himself, my head resting on His strong chest, following His lead. We danced gently and He began to hold me tighter, releasing only to send me into a spin, guiding my every move, and bringing me back, ever closer to Himself.
-now let me pause to assure you I have never done this before and was under the impression that everyone else in the room was doing the same thing-
The song ceased and the music began to get a bit faster, but the Lord did not let me go, we jazzed up our style and He egged me on to get into the beat and be more free! I opened my eyes to see that I had moved to another place in the room and was facing a different direction. At that moment, the same man got up and said, "now, let us dance with one another and turn this place into a hoe-down!" A hoe-down? Well, feeling that truly these were words from the Lord I let go, hooked arms with a nearby sister and started dancing, making my way through the room and hooking into whatever arm seemed to be available. The Lord continued to dance with me... just in the body of His Church! Blessed be the Lord!
so... Dance! For He is the Lord of the Dance!
January 12, 2009
HOLY HOUR to STOP FOCA
Make one today!
the Little Sisters of the Poor all over the world are making holy hours by request of Mother General for this intention. join them or do your own. the home in Philadelphia has a holy hour from 4:30-5:30 pm and will continue up to and including January 20. The holy hour is silent except for evening prayer at 5pm.
Click here to find a home near you!
or look up a church near you that has Adoration: Click here for Masstimes.org (search for Adoration using the right-most column)
some of the main effects of FOCA:
1) All hospitals, including Catholic hospitals will be
required to perform abortions upon request. If this happens Bishops
vow to close down all Catholic hospitals, more then 30% of all
hospitals in the United States.
2) Partial birth abortions would be legal and have no limitations.
3) All U.S. tax payers would be funding abortions.
4) Parental notification will no longer be required.
5) The number of abortions will increase by a minimum of
100,000 annually.
Thank you for your prayers!
the Little Sisters of the Poor all over the world are making holy hours by request of Mother General for this intention. join them or do your own. the home in Philadelphia has a holy hour from 4:30-5:30 pm and will continue up to and including January 20. The holy hour is silent except for evening prayer at 5pm.
Click here to find a home near you!
or look up a church near you that has Adoration: Click here for Masstimes.org (search for Adoration using the right-most column)
some of the main effects of FOCA:
1) All hospitals, including Catholic hospitals will be
required to perform abortions upon request. If this happens Bishops
vow to close down all Catholic hospitals, more then 30% of all
hospitals in the United States.
2) Partial birth abortions would be legal and have no limitations.
3) All U.S. tax payers would be funding abortions.
4) Parental notification will no longer be required.
5) The number of abortions will increase by a minimum of
100,000 annually.
Thank you for your prayers!
January 11, 2009
The Body of Christ
My dear friends I must share with you a revelation which was made so very profoundly real to me recently...
2-FOLD!
The Body of Christ present in the people of the Church.
Yes, it sounds quite simple in our theology and one of the main pillars of being Catholic and yet the Lord has been so very good to open my eyes to His Body here recently as I went on a retreat with other young adults as well as at Catholic Underground.
How to explain.... well let us just say that the whole Body of the Church, when present, can make one feel so very welcomed. A part of the group! A member of the Body! Yes, The Lord is so profoundly present in His Holy Body the Eucharist and has been so good to me in making this truth a very real and profound part of my life. One I could not live without! And yet to feel that I belong amidst the people... well here I have struggled in the past and I am sure i will continue to struggle, but the Lord is taking the scales from my eyes and showing me Himself in other places! Isn't He great?!!! We are happy with one thing, but He wants us to see it all! Surrounding me with not only the physically present Body, but also the celestial Body which is also so profoundly present for every prayer, always there adoring Him! And so I share in words that may not make sense, in a story which seems to have no plot or point, but for those of you who need to hear this and see Him in the Body of the Church, just trust, turn to Him in the Eucharist, and beg Him to show Himself... and He will! OH HE WILL!!!
PRAISE GOD!!!!
January 08, 2009
Step One: Find a Job
I have been in Philadelphia for 5 weeks now (well really just 4 since I was home for a week at Christmas). I am settled in and live with 4 other wonderful women. The community has been a blessing but my favorite part of my new home remains that there is Perpetual Adoration within walking distance!! YAY!
So, the first order of business for most people when moving to a new place is to find a job. Well, I guess for some that is actually an order of business even prior to moving! I searched in my field, having graduated with highest honors and two degrees (Environmental Science and Chemistry). It seemed that all the jobs I qualified for were connected to masters programs or in an area which did not interest me (since my real love is ecological research).
As I had mentioned previously I began volunteering for the Little Sisters of the Poor quite soon after I arrived and found peace in the ability to go there and be with the sisters and residents. I continued to search for a job and found a bagel shop which agreed to hire me. Seemed like a nice place and the Lord was quite gracious in allowing the owner to agree that I be able to go to Mass before coming to work thereby not scheduling me before 7:30am.
After calling a few times and not getting through, this bagel employment seemed to have been a figment of my imagination! As I have been "hired" now for about 3 weeks and have yet to work a single day! I continued to put out resumes and make contacts in hopes of finding a good job in my field.
Well, the Lord is good! Yes! Before Christmas, Mother Veronica asked me if I would like to work in the home! How amazing! So, I am now filling out the paperwork and going through the legal stuff to work for the Little Sisters! How amazing that a little under a year ago I was starting at the Little Sisters in Palatine! I left them assuming I would never see the LSPs again, and here I am working in another home. I guess that look Mother Maureen gave me when I left that seemed to say, "you'll be back" was right! :)
God be Praised!
So, the first order of business for most people when moving to a new place is to find a job. Well, I guess for some that is actually an order of business even prior to moving! I searched in my field, having graduated with highest honors and two degrees (Environmental Science and Chemistry). It seemed that all the jobs I qualified for were connected to masters programs or in an area which did not interest me (since my real love is ecological research).
As I had mentioned previously I began volunteering for the Little Sisters of the Poor quite soon after I arrived and found peace in the ability to go there and be with the sisters and residents. I continued to search for a job and found a bagel shop which agreed to hire me. Seemed like a nice place and the Lord was quite gracious in allowing the owner to agree that I be able to go to Mass before coming to work thereby not scheduling me before 7:30am.
After calling a few times and not getting through, this bagel employment seemed to have been a figment of my imagination! As I have been "hired" now for about 3 weeks and have yet to work a single day! I continued to put out resumes and make contacts in hopes of finding a good job in my field.
Well, the Lord is good! Yes! Before Christmas, Mother Veronica asked me if I would like to work in the home! How amazing! So, I am now filling out the paperwork and going through the legal stuff to work for the Little Sisters! How amazing that a little under a year ago I was starting at the Little Sisters in Palatine! I left them assuming I would never see the LSPs again, and here I am working in another home. I guess that look Mother Maureen gave me when I left that seemed to say, "you'll be back" was right! :)
God be Praised!
January 07, 2009
A Short List
My beloved friends,
it has been quite a while and there is much to catch you up on...
a short list:
-I moved to Philadelphia
-I have been volunteering with the Little Sisters of the Poor
-I will soon be working for the Little Sisters of the Poor
-I just went on retreat and the Lord is GOOD!!!
Ok... well that is the short list.
In the following days, I hope to expound upon the list and let you see a bit of what the Lord has begun in me!
Praise the Lord for He is good...
it has been quite a while and there is much to catch you up on...
a short list:
-I moved to Philadelphia
-I have been volunteering with the Little Sisters of the Poor
-I will soon be working for the Little Sisters of the Poor
-I just went on retreat and the Lord is GOOD!!!
Ok... well that is the short list.
In the following days, I hope to expound upon the list and let you see a bit of what the Lord has begun in me!
Praise the Lord for He is good...
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