Worth Repeating: Inviting the Holy Spirit into Your Life

I asked myself today,

"Do I understand the Holy Spirit?"

No, I don't, but here's what I have learned in the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Holy Trinity,

equal to the Father and Son.

He is called::

Paraclete,

Advocate,

Counselor.

 

 

 

He is also called::

Spirit of Truth,

Spirit of Promise,

Spirit of adoption, 

Spirit of Christ,

Spirit of the Lord, 

Spirit of God.

He is Holy.

He anoints.

He Heals.

He Transforms.

He writes on the human heart.

He teaches.

He lives.

He gives strength in our weakness.

He brings us into communion with God.

If you invite the Third Person of the Trinity into your life, I promise you this, 

YOUR LIFE

WILL

NEVER

BE

THE 

SAME!

As with Jesus who challenges us to live as His disciple, 

the Holy Spirit loves a welcoming heart.

He will guide us.

He will inspire us.

He will help us to understand truth.

He will shake up your life.

You will do what you never imagined you could do!

He is God.

God can do anything.

Pray and invite the Holy Spirit into your life.

Then wait. 

You will be loved as you have never felt love before.

 Be ready.

Through the fire of His love you will be transformed.

Holy Spirit,

I give you my life.

I offer myself to You.

Come into my heart.

Change my heart.

Purify my soul.

Inspire me to live, as You would have me live.

Send me where I will serve.

Inspire me to love more than I thought I could.

Transform me with Your Love and set my soul on fire.

Holy Spirit,

Come.

Shake up my life.

Set me free.

I am Yours.

Let my conversion be only for

The Greater Honor and Glory of God.

Use me.

My heart belongs to You.

Amen.  

Asking for Prayers

Pope Francis' trip to America was marked, at each stop, by a request for prayers.

He asked for prayers from the believers,

and he asked for good wishes or thoughts from those who did not believe.

Blessings upon blessings.

Graces upon grace.

Do you ever follow the Pope's example and ask for prayers?

I do, 

all the time!

 I firmly believe that I am broken.

Prayer is the glue.

Jesus is the Divine Healer.

He mends the broken with prayer.

Of course, not everyone will pray for you, even though, they have good intentions.
I frequently forget to pray for those who have asked. 

It's then that I say,

"Lord, I know I'm not remembering everyone.  Please bring to mind those for whom I need to pray, and for those whom I have forgotten to pray,

bless them.  You know them by name.

Please bless them."
 

On the other side of the coin, I am not shy about asking for prayers.

 If someone offers to put me on a prayer chain, my answer is always 

YES!

If someone says, "I'm praying for you," I do a little dance.

If someone sends me good wishes, well, I'd rather have prayers, but I'll take the blessing of good wishes.

Prayer is joyful to me,

both prayers received and prayers given.

We are in the community of the world.

If you'll pray for me, I'll pray for you, and if you don't pray for me, I'll still pray for you!!

 

the beast Can Be Defeated

The 40 days for Life Campaign has proven that 

the beast can be defeated.

In the face of prayer,

the beast runs.

he cannot stand sincere prayer.

(I deliberately did not capitalize

he.  he does not deserve that honor.)

Because of those who were praying at the infected site,

a baby's life was saved.

A young woman approached one of the women who was praying.  She asked,

"Do you hate people who have abortions?"

The woman replied, "Of course not.  We love them, and we pray for them."

The young woman went into the beast's office.

She came out later, but did not approach the group again.

The next day, an older woman came by the group and stopped to talk to the same woman who had been there praying the day before.

She told her,

"My daughter was here yesterday.  She didn't make an appointment for an abortion, but came home to think about it.  That afternoon, she called her OB/GYN to see about prenatal care for herself.  She has an appointment this week."

A baby's life was saved because of prayer.

Prayer works!

If you haven't had a chance to participate in the 40 days for life campaign, it's not too late.

I went today and prayed for the first time.

A young man driving in a car yelled out at us,

"You better get used to hell because you are going to burn there." 

I said a silent prayer for his soul.

What he said doesn't matter.

What matters is that a baby's life was saved because of the dedicated women and men who have been praying at the site of the beast.

Other lives might have been saved.  We don't know.  

God saves!

God loves!

God is great!

Prayer works.  

Amen!  Amen!  Amen!

 

St. Thomas Aquinas

Robins, Fall, and the Will of God.

“So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

Matthew 6:34

I had been wondering if the robins were still here.  I hadn't seen any of these harbingers of spring in a very long time.

Today, was different.

As Pixie and I walked, we saw so many robins swooping down and landing on lawns of leaves to find the worms and whatever else they could scavenge to eat.

Usually, robins don't fly together, but when they travel south, they do.

Not all robins will fly south.

In the dead of winter, there will be those few who need food and water to survive.

Each day, these lovely birds of spring face the challenge of survival.

Season upon season, the critters follow their instincts to survive.  

Birds, cats, dogs, cows, goats, moose, deer, pheasant,

well, you get the picture,

they do what God intended them to do.

They are born.  They mature.  They reproduce.  Eventually, they die.

One thing they don't do is to live in the past or the future.

They live in the present.

They do God's Will for them.

As human beings, we can make choices.  God gave us the gift of free will, and what a gift that is!

We can choose to behave in such a way as to grow closer to God or to grow away from Him.

There really isn't any in between.

It's not easy.  We live in a world of secularism where it's accepted to be "spiritual," but not religious.

We live in a world where "organized religion" is scorned.

We live in a world where our beliefs are challenged daily.

We live in a world where Christians are increasingly persecuted and hated.

God has been discarded.

Abortion kills babies everyday.

To choose euthanizing rather than suffer for the sake of Jesus and souls is accepted.

Assisted suicide.  The killing of the elderly.  The term"post birth" abortion is being bantered around the medical profession.

When will it stop?

Can it be stopped?

 

Mother Mary has promised us that, in the end, her Immaculate Heart will triumph.

She will crush the head of satan as he is locked in the bowels of hell.

In the meantime, what can we do?

 

"Oh, My Jesus, forgive us our sins.  Save us from the fires of hell.  Lead all souls to heaven, especially those who are in most need of they mercy."

 

Even if you don't pray your rosary daily, and I would encourage you to pray at least one decade of the Rosary, if not an entire Rosary daily, say this prayer 9 times a day.   Make a daily novena saying this prayer.  

"Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, I love You.  Save souls."

 

Say this prayer 9 times daily.

Then remember all who have died.  Say the St. Gertrude prayer.

Eternal Father, I offer You the Most Precious Blood of Your Divine Son, Jesus, in union with all the masses said throughout the world today, in reparation for sins,  for all the holy souls in purgatory, for sinners everywhere, for sinners in the universal church, those within my own home and within my family. Amen."

 

I always add:

"All praise and honor be to the Precious Blood of Jesus, for it wrought our salvation and our redemption.

Amen. "

You will save souls.

Like the birds of the air, the creatures of the earth and sea,

You will do the Will of God.

 

 

Ending the Week with Thanksgiving and Praise

"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."

1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18

 

1) My daughter's cats have finally decided that I'm okay, even though I own a dog.  I'm now included in their clowder.  That's a good thing, I think.

2) I was thinking about a good friend of mine, a nun, who died several years ago.  I remember how Sister Sharon made me laugh.  It was always fun to be with her.

3) I had a great night's sleep last night.  That was wonderful!

Praise God from Whom all Blessings flow.

Praise Him all creatures here below.

Praise Him above the Heavenly Host.

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost!!!!

The Squirrels Have Been Busy...

They run all over the yard searching for nuts, eating the nuts, and burying the nuts.  

A few have grown quite fat getting ready for their time of hibernation.

They might wake up a few times, as they sleep the winter away, but when they run out of food, they will scamper over the yard trying to find the nuts they have buried.  

It's all instinct.

God, the Creator, gave them a way to survive the winter by sleeping and digging up the nuts they have hidden.

Instinct.

They just know how to do what they need to do to survive.

 No one taught them.

They just knew how to do this when they were born.

Instinct.

God also ensured the propagation of trees through this instinct of the squirrels.  The squirrels do forget where they bury all of their nuts and seeds.  Where they are buried is where new trees will grow when the squirrels forget.

This reminds me of what Jesus said to His disciples.  This is a go-to set of verses for me when 

anxiety rears its ugly head and I forget the goodness of God.

“For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?  Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?  And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these.  But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith!  Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’  For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.  But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."

Matthew 6: 35-33 

We have more than instinct.

We have God who not only loves His creatures, but who loves His children even more.