With Peace Lay Your Head To Rest

With Peace Lay Your Head To Rest We must come and do what we came here to do. In your circle of family and friends gently appoint the ones to help, keeping in mind their special gifts. Put yourself in a place where you can be beneficial. Offer comfort to those in need. Give financial aid to those without means. Express compassion to the hurting, and those who feel abandoned, misunderstood or neglected. Use your talents in ways that will be a blessing to many. Then, at the end of the day, with a peaceful heart and spirit, you can lay your head to rest. Mark 3:13-19 Jesus went up the mountain and called to him those whom he wanted, and they came to him. And he appointed twelve, whom he also named apostles, to be with him, and to be sent out to proclaim the message, and to have authority to cast out demons. So he appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); James son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him. Then he went home.

THE GRACE OF SILENCE

THE GRACE OF SILENCE Yikes! This morning I woke with no voice. Barely a squeak would come from my vocal chords. What am I going to do? I start work at 6am and need to talk for 4 hours! I can’t talk and I certainly don’t want to call out! The morning was oddly quiet. No phone calls were coming into my queue. I reported this oddity and was told “The phone are unusually light. Don’t worry, stay available. A CALL WILL COME IN!” I took my break at 8am. “A break from what,” I thought. I hadn’t done anything but do a bunch of customer emails. I almost felt guilty for being paid. (almost) I was thinking perhaps I should be proactive and reach out again (by email of course) to my supervisor to report “I HAD NOT RECEIVED ANY PHONE CALLS!!!” Finally, an IT phone fix it person (female by the way-I don’t know why that was an important detail to include) contacted me. After a bit of “instant chatting” and “this and that” the phone was operable again. “Yikes,” I thought. “Why hadn’t I been taking advantage of the quiet and lubricating my throat!!!!” And then I stopped in my tracks as I ran to get the new bag of Ricola. “This is you Lord. I know it. Your hand is in this!” I had better take advantage of the lack of phone calls and consume as many honey drops as I can!!! This throat needs some healing and soothing! I share this because in the 4 hours that I would have otherwise been required to “yap yap yap,” I only received 3 phone calls. Just 3! I was able to rest my voice and sooth my throat with the elixir of wonderful honey drops. Thank you Lord for sparing my voice and allowing me time to heal. Thank you Lord, this time, for allowing me to RECOGNIZE YOUR GRACE , HEAR THE VOICE OF THE SPIRIT INSIDE ME and FEEL THE COMFORT OF YOUR LOVE in the silence.

With The Hand Of God Anything Is Possible

With The Hand Of God Anything Is Possible Have you ever asked God for something and then, with time, forgot all about your request? It’s important that we be mindful, prayerful and thankful for all our requests of God that have yet to produce fruit. We may not agree with the answer we get, nor receive our prayer requests when we want it. But this we can be assured. God is good. God is on time. God wants us to receive a ripe harvest in our lives. He wants us to have good things in abundance. God created a world of beauty, people to love and care for, and food for nourishment. Keep checking in on God. You don’t have to ask the same thing over and over again. God hears you. Every day there are gifts we are missing. Sometimes we just need to step away from the busyness of life to notice them. For the past 2 years my kumquat tree was dead. Its branches were black and it no longer produced any fruit. My husband had considered uprooting the dead tree. I refused . This past summer, over the course of a week, I went outside and placed my hands around the tree’s trunk and spent time in quiet meditation. I asked God, Jesus, The Holy Spirit, the Angels and Saints to be present with me. And I asked God to bring my tree back to life. With faith I asked Him. I believed. From time to time I have checked on my tree and I saw it blooming little flowers that would one day bear fruit. Today, I walked outside and saw a vibrant fruit-filled kumquat tree full of life and color. The sight was breathtaking. My husband is my witness. He smirked when he first saw what I was doing. But today, he is reaping the benefits of something wonderful touched by God. Today, I would pray, that his faith grew a little deeper rooted. Jesus taught us that with the hand of God anything is possible. Do you believe?

What God Designed For You To Do

What God Designed For You To Do When someone is looking for you how is it that you respond? Are they not looking to you for your talent, wisdom, patience, or kindness. Do what you can to help those seeking your assistance, guidance or comfort. Take a leap of faith and reach out of your comfortable circle of family and friends. There are others in your community and other areas in the world that would also benefit knowing and spending time with you. For that is what God designed you to do. Mark 1:32-39 That evening, at sunset, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons. And the whole city was gathered around What God Designed You To You the door. And he cured many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him. In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. And Simon and his companions hunted for him. When they found him, they said to him, ‘Everyone is searching for you.’ He answered, ‘Let us go on to the neighbouring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do.’ And he went throughout Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons.

Celebrate Birthdays and Baptisms

Celebrate Birthdays and Baptisms Today, on the last day of the Christmas season not only do we celebrate the birth day of Christ but also His baptism. Although Jesus was perfect, He was baptized by John, giving us, at the start of His public ministry a holy model to follow. Jesus was cleansed of His sins and The Holy Spirit descended upon Him making Him known to the world to be the Son and light of God. We too, at our baptism, are cleansed of original sin, The Holy Spirit descends upon us, and gives us holy light and entry into God’s Heavenly Family and Kingdom. Without baptism we have no rights to this beautiful and perfect inheritance. Without celebrating our baptism and without the simple subtle reminders of this blessed gift, we may lose sight of our divine light. When we lack focus or lose sight of good we may weaken what was once virtuous, strong and visible giving way to darkness, indifference, sinfulness, drunkenness, and a life without divine light. Throughout our lives we are encouraged to receive holy sacraments. Baptism soon after birth, first holy communion at the age of reason, confirmation at the onset of adulthood, and marriage when we have committed to a union of love and honor between a man and woman on earth for as long as God wills it. Jesus Christ lived His life following the will of God. We too are asked to live in the same way. Not to live in the way of this world, but rather live our lives in a spiritual and selfless way. Celebrating annually and recalling regularly our baptism allows us to more fully live spiritually loving one another, more readily forgive trespasses, more willingly offer assistance to those in need, and more eagerly place our faith and hope in our daily deeds, thoughts and prayers. God gave us the great gift of life at conception and birth. God has also given us the gift of our light, The Holy Spirit, and entrance into His Holy Family at baptism. Celebrate birthdays and baptisms. They are both a gift from God. Mark your calendar to remember and celebrate your gift of baptism. Every time you make the sign of the cross and mark your forehead with holy water remember your baptism and that you have the gift of the power and love of The Holy Trinity living in you. Baptism is a gift and a choice a person makes for one’s self and one’s child. May there not be an adult or child left out of God’s Holy Family or His Kingdom. Choose to share your light with all those you encounter and encourage those who do not yet know Christ. Do these things and more In the name of The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit. Amen. I have marked my calendar and I will celebrate! Will you be celebrating your special day too?

I Am A Little Voice of One Mightier Than All

I Am A Little Voice of One Mightier Than All Someone may ask who you are? What you do believe in? What is important to you? Do you have faith? Do you believe in God? Do you believe that Jesus is your Lord and Savior? People will ask because they have questions. People will ask because they are unsure of their own views. People will ask because they want to find fault. People will ask because some need to feel superior. “We must have an answer,” they demand of us in many ways, every day. What answers, realities, or even doubts can we provide to others that holds the truth to our current spirit, seeking or lost soul, scorned or healed heart, and even our ever changing character, for we are human after all. If we speak of these things aloud we may discover things we didn’t know about ourselves. If we take time to seriously meditate in quiet prayer our spirit will be moved toward discovering who we are, what we want to be, and how we’ve already grown. What do you say about yourself? Be a voice for Jesus and be an exemplary example to others. Therefore you might reply, “I am a little voice of one mightier than all. I will do what I can to make straight the way of the Lord! John 1:19-23 This is the testimony given by John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, ‘Who are you?’ He confessed and did not deny it, but confessed, ‘I am not the Messiah.’ And they asked him, ‘What then? Are you Elijah?’ He said, ‘I am not.’ ‘Are you the prophet?’ He answered, ‘No.’ Then they said to him, ‘Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?’ He said, ‘I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, “Make straight the way of the Lord” ’, as the prophet Isaiah said.