Born From Above

“The first thing we need to hold on to is our dignity as sons and daughters of God. When we were baptized, we were washed clean in the waters of the font and made children of God. That relationship with God is more real than the earthly families from which we came. We have a dignity that is unparalleled, a dignity for which God himself came to earth, taught, lived, suffered and died.”

Sr. Ann Shields, S.G.L.
Deeper Conversion Extraordinary Grace for Ordinary Times, St. Anthony Messenger Press

Sounds and Silences

I just read this over at Patrick Madrid's blog. Yup, I feel free to steal whatever comes along over there. This was beautiful because of the part toward the end about a Eucharistic near disaster. Check it out!

It's A Boy!!!

Woohoo!

Today Is The Day!

Sarah and Justin have an ultrasound today and we may find out the gender of the new baby! I'll be posting the results as soon as I get them and probably a picture if I get one. Her appointment is around 1:00 pm, so stop by later and I'll have an announcement!

(Betcha can't tell I'm excited, can ya?)

Just For Fun!

Tolkien

For Tolkien, Catholicism was not an opinion to which one subscribed but a reality to which one submitted.

J. Pearce in Tolkien: Man & Myth

The Eucharist. Don't Let Your Eyes Deceive You

Unless you believe, you will not understand. — St. Augustine

LOL!

He took flesh from the flesh of Mary.

He took flesh from the flesh of Mary. He walked here in the same flesh, and gave us the same flesh to be eaten unto salvation. But no one eats that flesh unless first he adores it. … We do sin by not adoring. — St. Augustine (354-430), Explanation of the Psalms

Steve Ray Scared The Hell Out Of Me

Wow! My friend Steve Ray wrote an awesome piece about a soul passing from this life to the next. I think it's one of the best things I've read on the subject. Not only that, it brings the gravity of keeping our hearts open to the grace of God. Don't read this before turning out the lights, but don't miss reading it.

Taking On Dan Brown In The Grocery Store

It had been a rough day and I was tired. I walked into a local grocery store to pick up a few things on my way home from Adoration. There, at the entrance of the grocery store, was a huge poster advertising Dan Brown’s latest work of profane fiction. The picture was of the dome of St. Peter’s and all kinds of doom and gloom scenery around it. I guess it was the last straw for the day.

I sent my daughter off to shop and I went to the customer service booth. I asked for a manager and found that three managers were present. When I asked the ladies to meet me over by the door they looked as through I was setting them up for a robbery or something. Only two of them followed me (the other one probably stayed behind to call 911 if I produced a weapon or something). I told them I was terribly offended by the poster. I explained that the building in the center of the picture was the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church and that I was a Roman Catholic. I explained that the author of this book thinks Jesus Christ was a woman. I told them that his lies against my religion were heinous and slanderous and offensive.

Then I challenged them. I asked them what they thought would happen if this poster were a representation of Muhammad. Did they think there would be controversy and litigation if they stuck a forbidden picture of him on their wall? They both raised their eyebrows in agreement.

So, I asked, what makes it OK to slander my religion and not someone else’s? What makes Roman Catholics fair game? They had no answer.

I told them I felt that if Catholics didn’t speak up and tell store managers that this kind of thing was offensive, that nothing would ever change. One of them assured me that she would take my complaint to the head manager but that she didn’t know what could be done. I assured her that I knew she was not the policy maker here, but that I felt I had to say something.

I’m sure that contemptible poster is still there, but at least when those managers look at it they know it is not OK to everyone who walks in. My simple victory, I guess.

My Birthday Party

My birthday was earlier this month and we went out to eat to celebrate. My Grandson's kept us all hopping throughout the meal. Where do they get all that energy??? Isaac serenaded me while his two doting Aunts stood by to make sure he didn't fall off his "stage." He really got into his dinner as you can see by his pizza stained face.

A "New Season" Of Anti-Catholic Bigotry

Stop by Patrick Madrid's blog site for a most disturbing and nauseating post about a new opera in New York. I don't even want to repeat the disturbing, anti-Catholic blasphemy that this opera offers up. What I love about the post on his blog is that the writer included a wonderful prayer of reparation to the Blessed Virgin Mary for the indecency of those who would commit such acts and then try to call them "art."

The Promise by Father Jonathan Morris

I've spent the last couple of weeks reading a book by Father Jonathan Morris called, "The Promise." My Spiritual Director gave me a copy last time I saw him and I have been savoring it ever since.

This is the book you give folks when life hurts and they want to ask God, "why?, why me? Are you out to get me?" It's the conflict between two facts about God. God is all powerful and God is all loving.

I'll be spending some time commenting on this book in the next week or two. I have marked my copy up pretty well and I'll be sharing some of the points that impacted me the most. As a recovering Calvinist, this book is the beginning of a new point of view and I'm really looking forward to seeing how God fleshes out my understanding of His goodness.

Meanwhile, make haste and get a copy. You won't regret it.

Say a Blessing, Go To Jail . . .

A couple of Florida educators had the audacity to pray before a dedication of a ball field. Now if you can't pray, how in the heck do you dedicate something? Dedicate it to who or what? Shoot, just play on the thing and forget a dedication if you can't give honor to the One who enables us to build anything at all.

Fortunately, some Congressmen have stepped up and offered their support to these two gentlemen and attempted to remind the court hearing the case and the lunatic ACLU that our founding fathers prayed over everything and made mention of it in all the most important documents that laid the foundation of the great country.

In a letter to the court the congressmen said, "The tradition of offering prayer in America has become so interwoven into our nation's spiritual heritage that to charge someone criminally for engaging in such a practice would astonish the men who founded this country on religious liberty," the lawmakers wrote.

Update: Judge Rules In Favor of educators! Check it out!

Will You Accept Obama's Friend Request?

Apparently our Executive Branch is going to start hanging out on Facebook and other social networking sites to see what we are all up to. You can read all about it here.

As for me, I'm doing what I can to make sure Obama loses his job and that the US remains a free nation. . . and you can quote me on that.

Good To Know

“I want to be like Jesus, with a ‘yes’ to the Father’s will, always depending on the grace of his Spirit to maintain that yes through thick and thin. And I know that even if my yes begins with a no, God will, in his mercy, reward my yes when eventually I yield to him. God always looks at the heart and rewards the struggle, no matter how many attempts it takes to embrace his way.”

Sr. Ann Shields, S.G.L.
Deeper Conversion Extraordinary Grace for Ordinary Times, St. Anthony Messenger Press

What?

Bad Things Do Not Come From God

As a recovering Calvinist, this is a concept that I have to constantly remind myself of.

“As we make our way through life, with its happy moments and mishaps, with its joyous accomplishments and tragedies, we often wonder if this is all simply a random set of experiences. Is God rolling the dice on us? Obviously, mishaps, mistakes, and accidents happen. They can happen because of things wearing out, negligence, or ignorance. They can even result from the ill will or criminal desires of other people. And we are temped to hold God responsible for the evils that befall us. Faith gives a different explanation. It tells us that Divine providence prepares us for the events of life, and it assures us that bad things do not come from God.”

Benedict J. Groeschel, CFR and Bert Ghezzi
Every Day Encounters with God: What Our Experiences Teach Us About the Divine, The Word Among Us Press

New Styles on my Bead and Book Blog

I'm posting some new earrings on my web site. I've been having fun trying new styles. Check them out here.

Pro-Life Advocate Shot To Death

Owosso, MI (LifeNews.com) -- Local officials and state police are confirming that a pro-life advocate was shot and killed outside a high school in this Michigan town. The person, who is described as well-known but whose identity has not been released, was shot multiple times while protesting abortion outside Owosso High School.
LifeNews.com has learned that the pro-life advocate is James Pouillon and the local Argus Press newspaper in Owosso has confirmed that to be the case. He was reportedly shot multiple times. (Read more here.)

Write a Caption

After having seen this picture many times in the last 24 hours, I started looking at the folks around Congressman Wilson and realizing that those are some pretty interesting expressions. So while I am sure you can come up with some interesting things for Wilson to be saying (I know I sure can) I think it would be funny to come up with some internal thoughts for the two guys next to him. Have at it!

That Pesty Birth Certificate

I just found a new blog I'll be following and it contains a very interesting item on that illusive birth certificate.

It Might Have Been Rude, But It Summed Up My Thoughts Perfectly!

Congressman Wilson might have shown bad manners, but you can understand the frustration of conservatives who are swimming against the Socialist Obama tide these days. I think the two words he used could easily sum up my view of the Obama Take Over of America. He can use his speaking and non-verbal skills to say one thing and mean another more easily than any one I have ever seen. It is downright scary.

Update: Congressman Wilson seems to have voiced the feelings of a good many of us. Check this out.

My One Thing

The Lord knows that I have one request of Him that I will never be deterred from making constantly and fervently as long as I live here on earth, and forever in eternity. That prayer is for the salvation of my children and my Grandchildren and every generation of my descendants until Jesus comes in glory. That prayer is offered along with renewal of my vows at every Mass I attend and every day in some way as I watch my daughters struggle through this life.

Patrick Madrid has a great piece of the importance of passing the faith on to our children. Check it out and give this homily a listen.

Prayer Breaks

You might remember a while back that I mentioned the ministry of John Michael Porrier. His ministry has meant a lot to me ever since I first heard him at a Marian Conference in 2001. He has started a new web site called "Prayer Breaks" to facilitate people who are desiring to make their lives a prayer. Check it out here and see if it doesn't help you reduce stress and stay in close touch with the Lord during your busy day.

Also, you might want to visit one of the prayer in song sites I have listed in the margin. I love to hear prayer chant and it is the best stress reducer I know other than sitting in the Presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.

Teach Your Children Well . . . Before They Get To School

Regine Gordon doesn't want her 6-year-old son to hear from President Obama next week.
Gordon, of Tampa, Fla., is among a growing number of parents across the country who are troubled by the president's plan to address elementary, middle and high school students in an online and televised speech Tuesday.

"It's a form of indoctrination, and I think, really, it's indicative of the culture that the Obama administration is trying to create," Gordon told FOXNews.com on Thursday. "It's very socialistic."

Read more here . . .

Keep this guy away from my Grandkids. I'm glad they have a lot of folks teaching them right from wrong before they get hit with this stuff.

Life Is Hard

“We would be a lot happier if we would take this line to heart: Life is hard. It’s just that simple. Somewhere along the line, most of us bought into the lie that tells us life is supposed to be easy. It is not easy. The real world is not like one of a million sitcoms, where the day’s problems are happily resolved in about twenty-four minutes. Life simply isn’t like that. It is difficult, really hard. I suppose at times we need to be reminded that Jesus invited us to pick up our crosses, not our beach chairs.”

Fr. Dave Pivonka, TOR
Spiritual Freedom: God’s Life Changing Gift, Servant Books

I Stole This From Patrick Madrid

Click the image and it will take you to Patrick's blog. He is famous for his Top Ten Lists, but this one is my favorite. We are huge Fr. Corapi fans at our house. I think he's dead-on-right all all ten points. Let me know what you think.

Offering Our Wounds To Him

God expects mercy to mark each follower of Christ. How can we extend that mercy if we have not humbled ourselves before God, if we have hidden our wounds? We can only give the mercy of God to others if we have first received it from his wounded heart. He wants us to offer our wounds to him for healing.”

Sr. Ann Shields, S.G.L.
Deeper Conversion Extraordinary Grace for Ordinary Times, St. Anthony Messenger Press