All Differnet All Beautiful

Looking out my windown all I see is snow & more snow. Each snowflake is completely different from all other snowflakes! Amazing, God created all human beings different in color, shape etc. just like the snowflakes, all different, all beautiful. All the snowflakes together make a beautiful winter scene, a white blanket gleaming in the sunlight and the moonlight. Why can't the human race come together to make a beautiful scene praising God our creator in thanksgiving for the gift of life. Amen

TEMPTATION

Temptation surrounds us all in everyway. Through the tv, magazines, internet & every kind of printed material you can think of. In todays Gospel, even Jesus did not escape the temptations of the Devil. How arrogant is the evil one. Did he not know who Jesus was? Or, did he in his pride think that the only Son of God would succumb to his wiles.
The devil asks us to worship him in so many ways. Through reception of the Sacraments we are fortified to withstand these temptations. Gods gives us His Grace when we sincerely turn to Him for protection. God is always faithful even when we are not. How awesome is that!
We know the last chapter, evil has already lost, but the father of lies wants every soul he can steal before the Glorius coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
+Pax et bonum

Giving To not Up

Lent has begun and so everyone is looking to give something up & making sacrifices is commendable. I think it is also good to do good works especially during this season of reflection.
I am doing my best to attend daily Mass. I gave up my soap opera last year for Lent & still haven't watched it. I use that time for other things. As a candidate for SFO I say the Liturgy of the Hours & now for Lent I read "One Bread,One Body" for inspiration. Working for SVdP, I asked if I could go out on more Home Visits. To love our neighbors as ourselves is the Greatest Command.

Erroneous Information

I just did a Catholic Christian search on Twitter. You would be amazed at all the misinformation floating around in cyber space. Some people still don't think "Catholics" are Chrisitians!!
My suggestion is for all those who are so ready to comment: First do the homework, check out the early Church Fathers pre 1st century, then actually go to the Cathechism of the Catholic Church and compare. You are in for a big surprise!!
Now for those who do not know the real definition of "Catholic" it simply means "Universal" and Yes, the Roman Catholic Church is universal.
To all of us who practise our religion as faithfully & to the best of our ability, being a Catholic Christian is not for the feint hearted, we are counter cultural or should be. It is not easy following the Way of Jesus. He has set the bar high but He forgives our weakness and failure's. He asks that we perservere in prayer, good works always beginning with Love
+Pax et bonum

When You Feel Down

It has been said many times before but bears repeating. When you feel down, blue, depressed or just plain "sorry for yourself" do something for someone else. It is better than any pill [drug of choice] that you can ingest. I believe helping others has great advantage for ourselves. It keeps us mindful of our own blessings and that life is fragile. There but for the grace of God go I. My daughter is donating a % of the sales of her design books to "Doctors without Borders" for relief to the Haitian people. So many individuals just like her are doing small things that have great benefits. I too volunteer in a large non-profit org. that assists all people regardless of race,color or creed. We help people with food, clothing, shelter even the payment of utilities, rent & mortgage payments. For us it is a ministry of love, for we are to see the face of Christ in all our guests and to be the face of Christ to them. God Bless all people who serve others through their labors and donations.
+Pax et bonum

The Snow

Cabin Fever Setting IN

Just like the weather man said, we are getting about 12 or more inches of snow on top of the almost 2' we got last Friday. First came the snow last night about 10pm then this morning it turned to rain & at lunch time it turned to snow again and of course the gloomy greys come with it all. What a winter so far!!
All of this white stuff is turning my brain to mush, need to get outside. Can't do that, the dampness really triggers my asthma. Oh well, I am consigned to stare out the window and hope for spring. In my daughters blog she mentioned seeing a flock of robins? Someone get them a GPS, they most certainly have lost their way, must be all this global warming going on!!!!

Another Nor'easter

Well all the channels including the weather channel are predicting up to 24 inches of snow to begin around 8pm this evening & althrough tomorrow late at night.
I will be definitly suffering from cabin fever. Classes have all been cancelled @ Church and hubby is not going to be able to get to work.
Maybe if I sleep in & just pull the covers over my head when I do get up it will be spring. The bears have the right idea. Hibernation!!

Ash Wednesday-Lent Begins

A week from tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. A time of preparation and self examination. I want to quote something our Pastor said "Man is created to mirror God and to give the light which is received from Him. When we do not mirror God we become "impertinent dust and ashes" even before physical death, that is why the Liturgy of Ash Wednesday is so important for our sense of perspective as to why we exist."
+Pax et bonum

Purgation

On Sunday evenings my hubby & I watch an EWTN program called "Live with Fr. Benedict Groeschel". Oh! how I love that man of God. His guests for this past Sunday were Bishop Laun from Germany and Dr. Von Hildebrand. Dr. Von Hildebrand is the wife of Dr. Dietrich Von Hildebrand[deceased] a Theologian and one who was at the top of Hitler's list for extinction. Their discussion was about the role of a Bishop, but that is not what I want to talk about. Dr. Von Hildebrand in the course of the discussion said something that struck a chord with me relating to my own pilgrimage. I will have to paraphrase she said, " Truth never gets old or old fashion, Truth is forever young. We have forgotten that we are only creatures and not God."
Soooo true, that double edged sword called *free will*. When I could no longer trust anyone or anything especially God, my *free will* kicked in big time, I was the master of my destiny, I was the captain of my ship, I was educated and could do it all myself without the help of *anyone*....Oh! how wrong I was, because my willfulness led me down all the wrong paths, further & further away from the *Truth* which is I am a child of God, created in His image. All the *stuff* of my existence; the secrets & falsehoods; the deceptions & the lies fueled the anger and I became my own worst enemy. The lack of inner peace, the physical heart ache & the feeling of emptiness tormented my soul. In the blackest of times, when my soul cried out My Savior heard me and answered. I am still in awe of the fact that He is always faithful even when we are not. Of course all my issues were not solved at once, it took years, but He gave me the grace I needed to perservere and I am still a work in progress and always will be until that moment when I am perfected and can enter into the sight of God.
+Pax et bonum

Revert not a Convert

In a previous post I said I wasn't ready to give the real reason for creating this blog. There are so many thoughts going around in my mind and I want to say it all but not all at once. I don't want this to sound like rambling so I am going to do this in bits and pieces. Although I am a cradle Catholic, I am a Revert, those of you who have come home to Rome sweet Home will understand.
My daughter thinks/says "I'm glad you found something!!" as if I had lost something. I never lost my faith even though I stopped going to Church. I was just plain angry. Anger can cloud one's reason to a point where we can no longer Trust in anyone or anything. It took me close to 25 years to sort it all out, and while I was doing that, My God and Savior through the Holy Spirit was guiding me, even when I didn't know it. He protected me from physical harm but allowed my spirit to suffer. Out of the suffering came wisdom, a teaspoon at a time. You see I am a stubborn, stiff necked person and my understanding came through to me slowly. This was a "good thing" as I dealt with each old situation [its called baggage] and the mistakes [they are called sins] I made in doing so, my Savior kept knocking at the door of my heart telling me through the closed door how much He loved me and wanted me to give it all over to Him. My only regret is that it took me so long to discern His voice from the all the noise around me.
+Pax et bonum for now

Dressed in White

This is a beautiful Blue Spruce in the backyard. It is almost as high as the ridge line of our roof. I took pictures just after the blizzard had stopped.

Sunday,Sunday Oh What a Day

2-7-10..."Come, let us sing to the Lord, and shout with joy to the Rock who saves us, alleluia."
Hubby just came in from digging out the car and driveway. We will be going to 12:30 Mass today and it will probably be very crowded as the 4 & 5:30 Masses were cancelled yesterday due to the "blizzard".
We got about 18 inches but with the wind gusts we have 3 foot drifts all around the house. To coin a phrase that is corny "it's a winter wonderland" except it can be treacherous getting around in it. So I am saying my prayers that everyone who is going to their respective Houses of Worship get to and from their destinations safely.
I love Sundays it gives us a chance to kick back & appreciate how much our God loves us, that He chose to give us not only a day sans work but a day to worship Him. So I will be ending this post with

+Pax et bonum to all

5 Yrs. Teaching & Learning

2-6-10 I am a certified cathechist and teaching 6th graders about what we believe and why we believe as Catholic Christians is not an easy job. Sixth graders today are not at all like those of "yesteryear"! Today they are techno savvy and sophisticated far beyond their 11 or 12 years. My class meets in the evening @ 7 pm, these kids have already had a full day @ school & whatever extra curriculum they are involved in. So when I get them, the last thing they want to do is listen to someone tell them about things they really don't understand [for the most part]. Sixth graders are not babies anymore nor are they all grown up, they are not even tweens yet but they are in middle school and observe the tweens and teens. In some instances they start emulating the *teen behavior* testing the waters, so to speak. This can make for a difficult hour. I am hoping that other religious ed teachers might read my blog and maybe offer some of their experiences and shed some light on keeping the 6th grade mind in a learning mode at such a late hour.

So Far-So Good

2-6-10 So far so good, I even customized my Google homepage Wow!! I wonder if anyone will ever follow me? My Yorkshire Terrier is looking to go out, but that snow outside is high. Oh! my hubby is going to take him out. I am not ready yet to go into "the" reason why I wanted to start my own blog.

The Majesty of It All

2-6-10 We are in the throws of a Blizzard, about 2 feet of snow out there, but it looks oh! so beautiful. I can see the tree branches laden with the snow bending to the earth and the wind
making them dance slowly to some silent tune and as they twirl they leave tree footprints in the snow. I am in awe of the majesty of nature and of my God.

To Blog or Not to Blog

2-6-10 I am a brand new blogger. It will take me sometime to get used to this, I am a journaler & not a stranger to writing about my life!! My daughter is a blogger for some years now, she is a knitwear designer. When she was going through Chemo & Radiation it was the best way for me to
know how she was doing without bothering her with tons of phone calls.
Today is my 3rd child's birthday, he is 46 today. It is my own tradition to call each of my children on the birthdays early in the morning. I actually sing the "Happy Birthday" song. A little corny but
as my youngest say I am "da momma"