Fatima and Carmel

Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Nuestra Senora del Carmen, Nossa Senhora do Carmo, Plinio Correa de Oliveira commentary on the Saint of the Day, July 16 @ TraditionInAction.org:

"Today Christendom is again in decadence. Our Lady came to Fatima to announce this fall, the chastisement, and the victory with the famous phrase: “In the end my Immaculate Heart will triumph.” In that same set of apparitions in which she announced her victory, she desired to appear in the habit of the Carmelite Order, as a way to confirm her age-old predilection for it and to indicate that this Order will be a part of her glorious Reign. With the habit, she symbolically made a synthesis of the past and the future, at the very moment that she announced the end of an era and the beginning of another."

Contemplation

Welcome to the Irish Province of the Order of Carmelites:

"The first and most important thing to remember is that contemplation is God’s work but normally God asks for our consent to his action in our lives. So, responding to the grace of God, we consent to enter this process which will change us; we consent to be led into the desert which occurs in and through our daily lives. It is not necessary to know a lot about spirituality or to have read many books; what is necessary is to recognise that there is room for change in our lives and be open to God’s purifying action in and through the events of daily life. We can prepare the way for the Lord like John the Baptist by examining our lives and seeing if there is anything which is incompatible with our vocation. We can then use the normal remedies which we are offered through the Church."

rising

From the rising of the sun 'til the sun goes down Let the Name of the Lord be praised (Repeat)
We're gathered to worship, becoming a choir to sing Your praise Lifting our voices, joining our hearts in this house today

People of God, in the power of God, for the Kingdom of God, we sing
From the rising of the sun 'til the sun goes down Let the Name of the Lord be praised From the rising of the sun 'til the sun goes down Let the Name of the Lord be praised

From the sky to the depths, from the east to the west We give You praise We give You praise

We're gathered to go out to cities and towns we'll take Your Name Into the nations, shining your light in the darkest place
People of God, in the power of God, for the Kingdom of God, we live
From the rising of the sun 'til the sun goes down Let the Name of the Lord be praised From the rising of the sun 'til the sun goes down Let the Name of the Lord be praised

From the sky to the depths, from the east to the west (repeat) We give You praise, we give You praise Lord, we give You praise, we give You praise

From the rising of the sun 'til the sun goes down Let the Name of the Lord be praised

He feeds us...

USCCB - (NAB) - June 9, 2008:

"The LORD then said to Elijah:
“Leave here, go east
and hide in the Wadi Cherith, east of the Jordan.
You shall drink of the stream,
and I have commanded ravens to feed you there.”
So he left and did as the LORD had commanded.
He went and remained by the Wadi Cherith, east of the Jordan.
Ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning,
and bread and meat in the evening,
and he drank from the stream."

Hmmm...sounds alot like a retreat doesn't it? LOL. I'm BAAAACCCKK! And yes...the Lord did take good care of me and nourished me well...both physically and spiritually. Even with human limitations (our own and others), the Lord manages to reach us and 'feed' us. Praise God.

All weekend I had this song running in my head (especially when I got up at 5:30 AM...AM and watched the sunrise.)...'from the rising of the sun, til the sun goes down, may the Name of the Lord be praised! WE give You praise!'... So Praise You Lord for that all that You do on our behalf...You are the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords. I LOVE You JESUS!

retreat

Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur

I'll be off for the next couple of days for my Lay Carmelite yearly retreat...please keep me and my group in your prayers.

Remain Faithful

USCCB - (NAB) - June 6, 2008:

"But you, remain faithful to what you have learned and believed,
because you know from whom you learned it,
and that from infancy you have known the sacred Scriptures,
which are capable of giving you wisdom for salvation
through faith in Christ Jesus.
All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching,
for refutation, for correction,
and for training in righteousness,
so that one who belongs to God may be competent,
equipped for every good work."

I wrote on my otherblog before going through today's readings...but I guess what the Lord was putting in my heart there, applies here too. Let's not perish for lack of knowledge!

Children of Hope

Children of Hope, Eucharistic Adoration for Children

Rosary on the 13th

"We are planning to pray the rosary on the 13th of every month until October 13
in honor of Our Lady of Fatima.

Our Lady appeared on the 13th of every month from May 13, 1917 to October 13,
1917 with a message of reparation and peace. We started last month and were
blessed with a view of a circle around the sun as you can see in the attached
picture."

Just got the above message from Laura, I'm very excited about this.

YouTube - I Offer My Life

A Reminder for Confirmed Catholics

USCCB - (NAB) - June 4, 2008:

"For this reason, I remind you to stir into flame
the gift of God that you have through the imposition of my hands."

Prayer

Lord Jesus, I come before you, just as I am. I am sorry for my sins, I repent of my sins, please forgive me. In your name, I forgive all others for what they have done against me. I renounce satan, the evil spirits and all their works. I give you my entire self, Lord Jesus, now and forever, I invite you into my life Jesus, I accept you as my Lord, God and Saviour. Heal me, change me, strengthen me in body, soul and spirit.

Come Lord Jesus, cover me with your precious blood, and fill me with your Holy Spirit, I love You Lord Jesus. I praise You Jesus. I thank You Jesus. I shall follow you every day of my life. Amen.

No excuses

USCCB - (NAB) - June 3, 2008:

"Therefore, beloved, since you are forewarned,
be on your guard not to be led into the error of the unprincipled
and to fall from your own stability.
But grow in grace
and in the knowledge of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ."

We have been forwarned! Don't let your guard down. Don't expect it to be easy though...but through the grace of God it is is possible.

Prayer

Parabolic : A Catholic Reflection:
"To help us repent, let's pray the following prayers:

Jesus, open my eyes to the parables right before me.
Jesus, put a new parable into my life today.
Jesus, may I have repeated flashbacks of old parables until I repent.
Jesus, may I take Your parables to heart, go to Confession, and repent of my sins.
Praying these prayers will reveal that the routine circumstances of our lives are charged with meaning. In our everyday life, the Lord will confront and convict us, encourage and heal us, and motivate and empower us. Our lives will be full of repentance and excitement. They will be full of living parables.

PRAYER: Jesus, may I be easy for You to talk to."

Faith alone? Hardly...

USCCB - (NAB) - June 2, 2008:

"For this very reason,
make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue,
virtue with knowledge, knowledge with self-control,
self-control with endurance, endurance with devotion,
devotion with mutual affection, mutual affection with love."

and the bottom line is LOVE! Not as the world shows us, but as Jesus Himself has demonstrated.

It's raining!

USCCB - (NAB) - June 1, 2008:

"“Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them
will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.
The rain fell, the floods came,
and the winds blew and buffeted the house.
But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock.
And everyone who listens to these words of mine
but does not act on them
will be like a fool who built his house on sand.
The rain fell, the floods came,
and the winds blew and buffeted the house.
And it collapsed and was completely ruined.”"

Look around you...check out the news...look into the lives of your family and friends...all around the rains of distruction are pounding and its results are obvious...families falling a part left and right. Guess what...none of us are immune...God did not promise us temperate weather year round...what He has promised to those that obey Him is protection from the storm...it will still pound on us(how can it not...don't our hearts break at what we are witnessing?)but we'll be protected from distruction...He will NEVER leave us.

So...let's get going on building our 'house' on the rock! Start with prayer(heart to heart prayer).

Thank You, Jesus

Thank You, Jesus : A Catholic Reflection: "Our life in Christ is not diminishable, not insufficient, and not destructible. Our life in Christ is full, perfect, and eternal. We must not let the devil rob us of our joy in Christ. We must resist his temptations and live by faith our glorious life in Christ.
PRAYER: Father, may I 'rejoice with inexpressible joy' (1 Pt 1:8) because I am a Christian."

Ransomed

USCCB - (NAB) - May 28, 2008:

"Beloved:
Realize that you were ransomed from your futile conduct,
handed on by your ancestors,
not with perishable things like silver or gold
but with the precious Blood of Christ
as of a spotless unblemished Lamb."

Our freedom was bought at a precious price...shouldn't we be enjoying it to the fullest?

YouTube - Holiness

holy, holy, holy

USCCB - (NAB) - May 27, 2008:

"Like obedient children,
do not act in compliance with the desires of your former ignorance
but, as he who called you is holy,
be holy yourselves in every aspect of your conduct,
for it is written, Be holy because I am holy."

What does it mean to 'be holy'? I think this is one thing that confuses the non Christian (and quite a few Christians) greatly. It does not mean to act in any one particular way, or even do particular pious acts. What it does mean is to be totally attuned to the Will of God in your life...to not even desire anything that is not of Him. To be obedient to all that He is asking of you in any particular moment(to take it one step further...sin is disobedience(remember Adam and Eve's first sin?)...any action in our part that gets in the way of holiness). What...you haven't heard from God lately? Then I would suggest that you turn to His church and train your heart to listen in a whole new way. Your life will never be the same again...I promise you that.

Please pray for this family

The Charles F. Dewhirst Family Funeral Homes:

"Idalina L. Henriques, 56, of Methuen died Friday May 24th, 2008 at the Mary Immaculate Health Care Services in Lawrence."

Idalina's husband is my sister in law's cousin...please keep their entire family in your prayers.

Are you eating enough?

USCCB - (NAB) - May 25, 2008:

"Just as the living Father sent me
and I have life because of the Father,
so also the one who feeds on me
will have life because of me."

We sit down to at least three meals a day so that our bodies don't perish...our spirit needs food too...let's not starve it to death.