Prayerful Weekend 2:: Prayer to My Guardian Angel

Prayerful Weekend:: 1 The Angelus

Give Thanks to the Lord for He is Good, His Mercy endures forever.

Attribution: This image was originally posted to Flickr by Camera on autopilot at http://flickr.com/photos/14168366@N08/3696773588

Praise God?  

Why?

He's God.  Does he need our praise?

 Does he need our thanksgiving?

Truthfully,

NO, 

God does not need our praise.

God does not need our thanksgiving.

However,

if someone gifted you with all you would or could ever need, wouldn't you, at least, write them a 

thank you note?

If you were granted an audience with the Pope,

wouldn't you write a thank you note to the person who arranged the meeting with the Pope?

Wouldn't you write a thank you note to Pope Francis?

 Of course, you would!

God being greater,

shouldn't we praise Him and Thank Him for all His wondrous gifts to us?

When you have no words,

there are some beautiful psalms.

Here's one of them.

O come, let us sing to the Lord;
    let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! 

 Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
    let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! 

 For the Lord is a great God,
    and a great King above all gods. 

 In his hand are the depths of the earth;
    the heights of the mountains are his also.

The sea is his, for he made it,
    and the dry land, which his hands have formed.

 O come, let us worship and bow down,
    let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!

Psalm 96: 1-6

Think about your day.

Name 3 things for which you can praise and thank the Lord!

 

Tammy and Our Lady of Guadalupe

I had a friend who was diagnosed with advanced stage lung cancer at age 45.  She had never smoked, not even once, and when she was diagnosed, all of us cringed.  Her diagnosis was a shock to everyone.  She suffered greatly through her cancer journey, yet, even in her days of greatest sufferings, Tammy was consoled by her faith. 

Tammy had been an adult convert to Catholicism.  Like so many who have been received into the church at a later age, her faith was strong.  She was tested, but she was not found wanting.  Her faith was firm.   Her faith was unwavering.  She trusted God completely.  She gave strength to her family and friends. 

As her cancer progressed, she had one wish, and that was to go to the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico.  The doctors advised against traveling.  She was very weak.  Tammy spent a lot of time in a wheel chair now, and her family was concerned.  They felt that the trip might adversely affect her precarious health. 

Tammy was not to be discouraged.  Along with her family, Tammy boarded an airplane that would take them to Mexico City.  Once there, she felt a surge of strength to the point where she was able to climb the stairs without help.  Her strength was remarkable!  She was keeping everyone moving, and she was happy.  Tammy prayed many times at the shrine of Our Lady.
Her family prayed for her physical healing.  Tammy also prayed.  As she prayed, she became more peaceful.  Her greatest sorrow was that she would not be able to see her son grow up to be a man.  Yet even in this sadness, an aura of peace surrounded her.  She surrendered all to God.  Her healing became deeper than flesh.  Her healing was in her soul.

As much as her family would have liked to have seen a physical healing for Tammy, Tammy’s cancer continued to spread in her body.  Lesions were found in her brain, and she acknowledged that this was the beginning of the end of her life.  The last time I saw Tammy, she was watching TV in a nursing home.   I came into the room, and her back was to me.  She was sitting directly in front of the television set.  I said, “Hi, Tammy.”  She turned her head and looked at me.  She didn’t know who I was.  She smiled and turned back to the program on EWTN.  She loved watching EWTN.  I tried to engage her, but her God was so much more important than I was.  I don’t blame her.  She was Mary to my Martha at that moment.  Even as her brain was affected by the rapidly growing  tumors, her God was there with her, and she knew it! 

A few weeks later, I received the call that Tammy had died earlier that morning.  She left this earth surrounded by love and she leapt into the arms of Love.  Her faith was her fortress.  Her God was her strength and her love.

I don’t know why I’m thinking about Tammy today.  I do miss her.  Her son is now in college.  I know she’d be proud of him!  It's been 8 years since she died.

Tammy reminded me that our Catholic faith is precious, and that our God is trustworthy and full of love.  Tammy understood the wonders of our God, the God who never gives up.  The God who gives strength.  The great I AM.  The cross became her crown. 

Miss you, Tammy! 

Saint Gertrude Prayer

Said to release 1,000 souls from Purgatory each time it is prayed.

Eternal Father, 

I offer you the most precious blood of your Son Jesus,

in union with all of the Masses said throughout the world,

In reparation for sins,

for the Holy Souls in Purgatory,

for sinners everywhere,

for sinners in the Universal Church,

those within my home and within my family.

Amen.

Worth Revisiting Wednesday: In 2013, I learned...

In 2013, I learned...

 That without God in my life, I have nothing.  I am nothing.                                                   

John 15: 5  I Am the vine, you are the branches.  Those who abide in Me and I in them bear much fruit because apart from Me you can do nothing. 

That even when I walk my path, if I am walking the path that God has chosen for me, I am at peace.

Job 22: 21 Agree with God and be at Peace.  In this way good will come to you. 

That when life is difficult, if I rely on God, in spite of the difficulties, I am safe.

Psalm 23: 1-4 The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside still waters;
He restores my soul.
He leads me in right paths for His name’s sake.
Even though I walk through the darkest valley,
I fear no evil; for you are with me;
That If I sin and turn away from God, the confessional is the means for forgiveness and reconciliation.

James 5: 16 Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective.

That although not easy, forgiveness is meant for everyone from the driver who goes well under the speed limit, driving me insane on the road,to the one who has destroyed our trust.

Mathew 5: 43-47  "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.  But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,  so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.  For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?

That prayer is like eating.  It is our spiritual nourishment.  It is our connection to God.

Matthew 7: 7  “Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you

Sirach 35: 16-17: He whose service is pleasing to the Lord will be accepted, and his prayer will reach to the clouds. The prayer of the humble pierces the clouds, and he will not be consoled until it reaches the Lord; he will not desist until the Most High visits him, and does justice for the righteous, and executes judgment.
James 1: 6-8: But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.  For that person must not suppose that a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways, will receive anything from the Lord.

Romans 12:12:  Rejoice in your hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.


7) That when we turn away from  our fellow human beings who are suffering, we turn away from Jesus.

Proverbs 21:13: He who closes his ear to the cry of the poor will himself cry out and not be heard.

Deuteronomy 15:11 Since there will never cease to be some in need on the earth, I therefore command you, “Open your hand to the poor and needy neighbor in your land.”

Mathew 25: 31-46“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory.  All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats,  and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left.  Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me. Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink?  And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing?  And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’  And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’ Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels;  for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink,  I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’  Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?’ Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal lifeThat sin has grave consequences for our souls, even if the sins are not mortal sins.

Isaiah 59:2: but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you so that he does not hear.


That God never forces Himself on us.  He is there waiting for us to hear His invitation to Love.

Kings 19: 11-13 And he said, “Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; 12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice. 13 And when Eli′jah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him, and said, “What are you doing here, Eli′jah?”
That God loves all.  He is Love embodied. 

 John 3:16  "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.

John 4:7-21: Beloved, let us love one another; for love is of God, and he who loves is born of God and knows God.  He who does not love does not know God; for God is love.  In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.  In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the expiation for our sins.  Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.  No man has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his own Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world.  Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.  So we know and believe the love God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.  In this is love perfected with us, that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so are we in this world.  There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and he who fears is not perfected in love.  We love, because he first loved us.  If any one says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.  And this commandment we have from him, that he who loves God should love his brother also

Things about Jesus and Prayer

See attribution at the bottom of this text

Rising very early before dawn, he left
and went off to a deserted place, where He prayed.
Mark 1: 36

Even Jesus prayed.

The second person of our Triune God,

prayed.

 Jesus prayed.

He prayed in a deserted place.

Often, He would pray early in the morning or all night.

"In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed."
Mark 1:35





Jesus would begin his prayer with praise and thanksgiving to the Father.

"At that time Jesus said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.<sup>"

Matthew 11: 25-26</sup>

Jesus thanked His Father for the gift of His followers to Him.
(One of my favorite scriptures)

After Jesus had spoken these words, he looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you,  since you have given him authority over all people, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him.  And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.  I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed.
 “I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word.  Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me.  I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them.  And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.  While I was with them, I protected them in your name that you have given me. I guarded them, and not one of them was lost except the one destined to be lost, so that the scripture might be fulfilled. 

John 17: 1-12 


Jesus prayed to ask the Father that He take away His cup, but Jesus submitted to the Father's Will.


"Then he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, knelt down, and prayed,  “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me; yet, not my will but yours be done.”  Then an angel from heaven appeared to him and gave him strength.  In his anguish he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down on the ground."
Luke 22: 41-44


Jesus prayed for His murderers.  He asked the Father to forgive them.

"Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” And they cast lots to divide his clothing."
 Luke 23:34

 In His Misery on the Cross, Jesus calls out to His Father in abandonment.

 ^"And about three o’clock Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
Matthew 27:46

Before this, Jesus taught us how to pray.

“Pray then in this way:

Our Father in heaven,
    hallowed be your name. 

     Your kingdom come.
    Your will be done,
        on earth as it is in heaven.     

 Give us this day our daily bread. 

     And forgive us our debts,
        as we also have forgiven our debtors.      

And do not bring us to the time of trial,
        but rescue us from the evil one."

Matthew 6: 9-13 

Photo attribution

"Statue of Jesus Christ in Prayer" by Conniemod - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Statue_of_Jesus_Christ_in_Prayer.JPG#/media/File:Statue_of_Jesus_Christ_in_Prayer.JPG

Beatitudes of the Beautifully Weird

Public Domain: PDPhoto.org

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blessed are the weird, for they shall see life as no one else can.

Blessed are they who don't fit in, for they have a special place to fill.

Blessed are they who are rejected because they are different, they reflect the true beauty of God.

Blessed are they who are alone because they are different, for through them shines the light of God.

Blessed are they who are not included, for they are close to the Heart of God.

Blessed are they who are on the outside, for they have room to grow.

Blessed are they who feel the pain of exclusion, for their differences bring them closer to God.

Blessed are they who hunger for friendship and are refused, they are precious in His sight.

Blessed are they who think outside the box, for their boxes are a prison.

Blessed are they who are beautifully weird, for they have felt the nails of the Cross.

Blessed are they who were made to be weird, for this is a blessing from God.