I Give You My Blessing...

I remember a scene from my childhood.  I remember when my mother and her siblings would leave the company of each other, before the good byes were said, they would go up to each other, make the sign of the cross upon the forehead of the person to whom they would say good bye, and give them their blessing.
The words might be, "God bless you."
Or
"Via con adios."
(God be with you.)
Or
"God be with you as you drive home."

We children were simply blessed with the words,
"Be good to your parents."
That was only if we could be caught near an adult.

The voice of the blessing is profound.
Words of blessing can be silently prayed,
But
These words gain strength when they are spoken aloud
Because by speaking these blessings aloud
God is publicly invoked.
When there are two or more gathered in prayer,
I AM in your midst.

When God is in our midst,
The blessing gains strength and power.

The power of the blessing is great.
When we invoke God and ask that s/he be blessed in a profound way,
God hears our prayer.

To bless means to invoke divine favor upon someone.
We are not just asking Gòd as an intercessor to grant a petition,
We are invoking God to bless them,
To make them holy,
To make straight their paths.
We are asking God, as did prophets of old,
To lay His divine hands upon this person
And bless them with great spiritual gifts.


His ways are not our ways,
And
His thoughts are not our thoughts,
 

We don't know how God will accomplish what we ask of Him.
Perhaps our blessing to another person might be,
"May you be abundantly blessed by the Love of God."
God will bless this person with His love,
But the outpouring of His Love might be in the form of a serious illness.
God might have been waiting to bless this person with an illness to sanctify him or her.
God's intent maybe to purify that person through suffering or sorrow.
Whereas, we might have intended to bless them with the joy of the Lord,
God saw His chance to bring this person closer to Himself through suffering.

In spite of this possibility,
Never hesitate to bless someone.
When you pray for blessings upon a soul,
You are helping to bring them closer to God.

I met a priest at a funeral who greeted everyone this way,
"May the peace and love of Jesus always be with you."
I wasn't sure how to respond, so I said,
"And with your spirit."
Now, I wish I had blessed him praising his priestly vocation.

Blessings don't have to be complicated.
They can be a simple phrase such as,
"God be with you today and always."
Or
"May God bless you."

If you want to get a bit more complicated you can,
But in my experience I have found that simple blessings do not pull people out of their comfort zones.
When people are comfortable,
They can respond more easily.
"Thank you,"
They might say,
Or
"God be with you, too!"

"Blessing upon blessing.
Grace upon grace."
Traci M.

There is great power in a vocal blessing.
Ask God,
He will invoke His power
And
Bless, Bless, Bless.
Don't be afraid to ask.
Blessings bring great sanctity into our lives.
Bless.
Make Holy.
Invoke God to bring His favor upon others.
Bless.
Bless.
Bless.

I Blew It! Yesterday was Good Sheperd Sunday. Yesterday Was the Day on Which the Church asks us to Pray for Priestly Vocations.

“The World Day of Prayer for Vocations.”

That was yesterday, but the truth of the matter is that we can pray for priestly vocations any time.

We should pray for priests daily.

They battle the forces of evil

mentally,

physically, 

spiritually,

and

emotionally.

Many men  have chosen not to seek a priestly life.

Who can blame them?

Our priests are attacked everyday in the media.

The parishoners of their own parishes can make the life of a good priest

miserable.

We have a shortage of priests now.

This is one of the reasons we need to pray for men to be inspired by the Holy Spirit and discern.

 

The Catholic Church asks us to pray for vocations to the priestly life.

Without priests,

the physical presence of Jesus would be absent from our world.

Through the consecrated hands of the priest,

ordinary bread and wine are consecrated,

and become the body, blood, soul and divinity of our Lord and Savior,

Jesus Christ,

the Second Person of the Triune God.

Think about this mystery,

Jesus, the Son of God, physically on earth!

How wondrous is that!

Pray for your priests!

Pray that they stay true to their vocations.

Pray for men to prayerfully consider the priesthood.

Pray that many men listen to the whisperings of the Holy Spirit and seek the Sacrament of Holy Orders.

We need our priests!

Please join us in praying for vocations now.

St. Faustina’s Prayer for Priests

“O my Jesus, I beg You on behalf of the whole Church: Grant it love and the light of Your Spirit, and give power to the words of Priests so that hardened hearts might be brought to repentance and return to You, O Lord. Lord, give us holy Priests; You yourself maintain them in holiness. O Divine and Great High Priest, may the power of Your mercy accompany them everywhere and protect them from the devil’s traps and snares which are continually being set for the soul of Priests.

May the power of Your mercy, O Lord, shatter and bring to naught all that might tarnish the sanctity of Priests, for You can do all things.”

~~St. Faustina’s Diary #1052

Rest in the Lord...

Hope

He waits for you in the confessional.

Ending the Day in Thanksgiving....

Prayer Journals are wonderful ways to record all the things for which we are grateful!

Do you remember the gratitude journal?

The gratitude journal was and is a statement of fact which will raise our endorphins making us happier.

Facts are these::

People who live in the state of gratitude are happier people.

People who appreciate all that they are given are happier people.

Even if it's been a bad day or week,

there is always something for which we can be grateful.

God always gives us something each day we can record.

No, our day might not have gone like we would have liked it to go,

but

God had other plans for our day.

Here's an excerpt from my prayer journal from yesterday.

4/23/15

My wrist is still sore and stiff.  Ouch.  I'm glad that I can offer this pain up to God.  For that, dear Lord, I am most grateful.

Our weather looks to be improving, but it will still be a few days before we can call it "warm" again.

I'm grateful to know that it will get warm, eventually?

I didn't sleep well last night.  I tossed and turned all night.  I woke up cold because the covers were on the floor.  It was a long day.  I'm grateful that I will sleep well tonight.

I saw a red-winged black bird today!  It was sitting on a bush near the highway!  Thank you, Lord.  Spring is on the way!

Pixie is sleeping well today.  She always sleeps well!  I'm thankful for that.

I'm grateful for my diabetic educator.  She really helps me!  Bless her, Lord, and thank you for the gift of her.

I found some silk ginkgo leaves today!  They are beautiful.  They always give me hope.

Thank You, Jesus.

The rhubarb is growing.  It's not ready to cut, yet, and eat, but it's a sure sign that spring is on the way!  Thank You, Father Creator!

Lord, these are only a few of the blessings you gave me today.  Thank you for all the ones of which I was aware, and of all the ones I was not aware.

Amen.

 

Until Yesterday...

Public Domain: Edwin Harris: Girl in a pink apron

Until yesterday I believed that the problem was

discerning 

God's Will.

Today, I have changed my mind.

The problem is not discerning 

God's Will,

but

in 

accepting God's Will.

An hour praying and discussing the issue of fasting with Jesus

at adoration

and 

a discussion with our pastor after adoration on the same topic taught me that 

discernment

was not the issue.

Accepting

God's Will

was the issue.

I am a diabetic who is insulin dependent.

Fasting is, and has been, a significant issue for me.

I have tried food fasts, only to find my sugars rise instead of fall.

I have tried fasts of bread and water, which also cause my sugars to rise very high.

I have tried abstaining from different foods.

I have tried eating only vegetables, and

 my sugars rise.

My daughter pointed out to me that if I wanted to fast,

food was not the fast for me.

However,

I ignored what she said was obvious.

I felt that God's Will was for me to fast.

 

Nope. No. Nein. Nada. No way

did these food fasts work.

 

Yesterday, in a discussion with our pastor, he said to me.

"It's obvious.  It is not God's Will that you fast from food."

 

Nu-uh!

God wants me to fast!

 

"Have any of your food fasts worked in the past?" Father asked me.

 

"Well, then, I have to discern what foods I have to fast from," I replied.

 

"I think God has been telling you for a long time," Father replied.

 

"I want my prayers to be more effective.  I have to fast!" I said.

 

 'Think about it," Father replied.

Last night as I wrote in my prayer journal,

there were still no answers about the  foods from which I should fast.

I knew I had to discern God's Will.

Then I saw them.

There were so many "I's" in my journal.

I want to fast.

I want to use food.

I

I

I.

Discernment was not the issue. 

Acceptance was.

None of my food fasts had ever worked,

 the numbers showed that clearly.

 

God had made His Will clear,

but I wasn't listening to Him.

 

His Will for me is that I not use food to fast.

Perhaps, the hunger I feel for Him can be fueled from virtue.

 

He's asking me to 

TRUST HIM.

 

He's asking me to 

ACCEPT HIS WILL.

 

He's asking me to behave with 

HUMILITY.

He's asking me to let Him be in charge, to let Him be

GOD.

 

Truthfully, it's a relief.

I don't have to worry about fasting any more.

I didn't like it anyway, but now, I can take this gift of not fasting,

and,

honestly thank God because it's not His Will for me.

He will show me what He wants me to do.

 

Now, the balance returns with the gift of His Peace.

TRUST

ACCEPTANCE

HUMILITY

DIE TO SELF.

 

The journey begins anew.

Perhaps, this is the beginning of humility?

 

 

Worth Repeating Wednesday: When You Become a Saint, You Will Be Known as the Patron Saint of What?

St. Joseph is venerated as the Patron Saint of so many things, actually, just about everything.  He's the Patron Saint of the Universal Church, the Patron Saint of workers, the Patron Saint of a Holy Death, etc. etc. etc.

Other canonized saints, such as, St. Francis of Assisi are known for other things.  St. Francis is known as the patron saint of ecology, nature, and animals.

St. Catherine of Sienna is the patron saint of nurses.

Our newly canonized saints, John XXIII and John Paul II, are also patrons.

John XXIII is the patron saint of Papal Delegates.

John Paul II is the co-patron saint of World Youth Day.

Thomas Aquinas is the patron saint of teachers, students, and  academics.

Mary Magdelene is the patron saint of tanners, pharmacists, and hair dressers.

St Augustine is the patron saint of brewers, printers and theologians.

So, since our goal is to become a saint, whether we are canonized or not, of what will you be a patron saint?

I'm thinking, I'd like to be the patron saint of those who are different, misfits, artists, and those who really don't fit into the mold.   I want to be the patron saint of those who march to a different drummer and follow a separate path.


That sounds really good to me!