Wednesday, August 25, 2010

All Work And No Pray...

Repeat this mantra:
All work and no pray makes for burnout
All work and no pray makes for burnout.

Personal and professional burnout can have devasting effects in our lives, but they don't have to.  Now, how do you achieve enlightenment, Grasshopper? By keeping this list of "to do's" and "to don'ts":
Pay attention to the warning signs
Begin your day with the Creator
Observe the Sabbath day
Be a person of prayer
Restore laughter
Practice meditation
Be grateful
Lighten up

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

The Calling of Every Man Is The Dignity of Every Woman;
The Vocation of Every Woman Is The Integrity of Every Man
From Zenit- by Genevieve Pollock
From an interview with Edmund Adamus, director of Pastorial Affairs for the Diocese of Westminister, England:
  
 There is a fundamental truth underpinning John Paul II's adequate anthropology -- one might call it
theology of the body in shorthand. It goes something like: the calling of every man is the dignity of every
woman; the vocation of every woman is the integrity of every man.
   In other words -- beset as we have been over many decades but more recently since the global onset of gender theory -- more and more people are beginning to realize that the feminization of masculinity and the laddish culture that haunts the development of young girls and women is not providing the answers to life's deepest questions.
   John Paul II, as we know, in his catechesis invites us to 'go back to the beginning' to seek in the truth of the
order of creation, something of what we dare to say is the "Divine imagination." That dream of God the Father Creator is that his daughters and sons in all relationships, but especially the marital, sexual one, be infused with the serenity and tranquility of our first parents.
   This is not just being open to life in procreation, but respecting the expression of God's life in each other --
seeing one another with the eyes of God himself. The interior gaze, as John Paul II called it, is crucial to male-female relating, especially for men because our DNA means that we are wired to remember the beauty and goodness of what we see and look upon first before we are captivated by what we hear, sense or feel.
So it is incumbent upon men to rejoice in this very masculine charism to see in women their intrinsic worth
and beauty, precisely because they are women and no other reason. Thereby in small actions and greater ones they exhibit countercultural signals against the selfish, hedonistic wasteland that is the objectification of women for sexual gratification.

For more of this article click on this link:   http://www.zenit.org/article-30134?l=english

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Suicide...

   A friend of mine came to me today to ask for prayers for her family. It seems that a wonderful young man, my friend's nephew, had decided to take his own life. My heart cries out for this young man who must have been searching for answers and never found them and gave up hope.
   In the last 15 years I have encountered three young people who were near that giving up hope stage. Thank God they felt like they could talk to me about it and change their minds. Too often a young person doesn't feel like there is anyone they can talk to or who will understand them or judge them. Too often they are left alone, smiles on their faces, faking their way through life, letting people think they are okay. Too often they are NOT okay and desparately need someone to talk to, lean on, listen without interruption.
   God loves every person...EVERY person! He cares about EVERY person.
   You can NOT say that God doesn't care because their is so much evil in the world. God did not create evil. Mankind choose to be evil. God wants them to be good and forgives ANYONE who asks Him for forgiveness.
   If you have ever thought about suicide...please think about this: I love you no matter who you are, I am an ear to your worries, desparation. God is your anchor - hold onto it until you get to shore and talk to someone! Talk to me, talk to someone, pray to the Lord who DOES hear your voice. He sends you people in your life who can help - open your eyes and see them!
   Please, your life is worth everything to God, to me, to other people in your life.