Joy! Every Adversity Carries the Seed of Greater Benefit

  I love this quote from the book, "Chasing Joy" by Edward Hays.  He speaks of "rejoicing always by searching for something good, the potential of happiness, hidden in every event-even events that are sorrowful." This last discovery of joy hidden in some misfortune requires trusting in God.
Faith encourages us to open ourselves to God's creative ability to convert darkness into light, to generate life out of death, to convert anger into peace and sorrow into joy.
  The quote, "Every adversity carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit," gives us the promise that these joy-laced seeds that are hidden in the darkness of suffering do not grow instantly or miraculously no matter how deep your faith is.  Rather, each adversity holds a seed that must be cultivated, nurtured and grown in trust and love.
  Nothing happens overnight...the universe which God began trillions of years ago is still growing...so must our trust and joy.

Joy!

Over and over again I am reminded that we are nothing without Joy.  Our faith, our lives, everything depends upon the Joy we let shine in our lives!  We were made for joy, it's why our face smile, our eyes light up, our cheeks become rosy and our lungs shout with laughter!
  Let nothing steal your joy.
  There's plenty of joy sucking obstacles in our lives every day...but don't let it happen! Put your joy back on, laugh, smile.  Why are we put where we are in life?  God put us here to be joyful, to be joy-filled and to spread that joy to others so they can share in God's love for them too. 
  I got that joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart!
 

With This We Shall Save the World!

  Seeing a great need for a renewal of the workings of the Holy Spirit...Forget not your Confirmation! The Seal of the Holy Spirit upon your forehead when the Bishop anoints you as a Soldier For Christ, and says, "Be sealed with the gifts of the Holy Spirit!"

You are therefore challenged to live out your Catholic faith!
 You have chosen to become a Soldier for Christ.
  How will you fight the battles that wage against the world?


* "The Holy Spirit who comes down with a life-giving descent upon the waters of baptism, in the font bestows beauty unto innocence, in Confirmation grants an increase unto grace.
  Because we have to walk during our whole life in the midst of invisible enemies and dangers, we are in baptism regenerated unto life, after baptism we are confirmed for the battle; in baptism we are cleansed, after baptism we are strengthened...
Confirmation arms and furnishes weapons to those who are reserved for wrestlings and contests of this world!


WE are those called to battle!  We the confirmed who choose to enter the fight and not shrink from the dangers in the world. Sometimes we are injured, mangled, torn apart, but we stand up again and return to the fight for that is what WE are called to do.





*quote from a 5th Century Bishop in a homily for Whitsunday or Pentecost Sunday

The Holy Spirit

"Forget not the Holy Spirit,

at the moment of your enlightenment (Confirmation)

 He is ready to mark your soul with His seal...

He will give you the heavenly and divine seal

which makes the devil tremble.

He will arm you for the fight;

 He will give you strength!" 

 

 

St. Cyril of Jerusalem

Above All Else

   Above all else, help me always to remember that I have only one soul, that I have only one short life that must be lived by me alone. That I have only one death to die, and there is only one glory that is eternal.
   If I do this, as you have promised, there will be many things I will not care about at all.
   Nothing will disturb me.                     -Teresa of Avila

Look At the Helpers

A Parent's Prayer

Holy Father, keep in your name those you have given me, that they may be one as we are one, says the Lord.  John 17:10

Love Your Enemies, Pray For Those Who Persecute You

Experiencing the Lord in the Hospital

  Just last week, my mom experienced a bad fall while coming out of church. It had been raining heavily and the blacktop was slick and down she went breaking her hip, pelvis and some vertebrae.
  Now, my mother is a very sturdy woman, instead of laying there between two parked cars and hoping someone came by quickly, she got herself up, continued walking to her car and drove to my home where she knocked at the door and told me, "I think I may have hurt myself."
  What an understatement! 
   But you see my momma has big faith in the Lord. The entire time she kept telling Jesus, "Help me Lord, just get me to Lisa's"
   When I saw her and the pain she was in I repeated this plea myself, "Help me, Lord, just get us to the Emergency Room!"
   Six hours, several x-rays and a cat scan later, it was confirmed that she had indeed hurt herself with a hairline crack in her pelvis, crack in her hip and cracks in vertebrae. So began the hospital stay. The next day we were buoyed up by the presence of a Extraordinary Minister to the homebound who visited my mom's hospital room and blessed us with his good humor and his genuine love of the Blessed Sacrament.  He looked at mom and me after exchanging warm greetings said, "And course you both will be receiving the Lord today?" 
  I loved the way he wasn't timid about it.  To him it was the most natural thing in the world to be receiving Jesus among the wires, alarms, bandages, tubes, needles and everything else hospital. 
  I hadn't realized how very tired I was at the time, having not slept for over 25 hours, concentrating on what doctors were saying and nurses were doing, my efforts to make sure Mom felt safe and secure in this strange place had put my prayers in the background.  But now, here was Jesus right there in the room with us, saying, "Just take and eat and I will help you!"
I gratefully received our Lord, thanking Him for the reminder that He was with us and everything would work out.
   The next day the same gentlemen was back, with his good humor and twinkle of Christ in his eye. This time, two of my sisters, and a niece were in the room too. He didn't bat an eye but again repeated, "And of course you'll all be receiving the Lord today?"   We did with much love and thankfulness for this God who sent His Son to us, in all occasions, in all strife and adversity to be sure we knew His love for us never wavers especially when we are going through hard times.
  We received Him gratefully for the encouragement He gave to our spirits and souls that day.
   By the end of the weekend we found out my mom would not need surgery but just plenty of rest to heal.  I found out again, as I have so many, many times, how very much I need the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament to help me.  "Help us Father, help us know how very important it is to receive you in the Body and Blood of your Son."