Blessings for 2017

Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God

~~~ Numbers 6:22-27 ~~~ Psalm 67 ~~~ 

~~~ Galatians  4:4-7 ~~~ Luke 2:16-21 ~~~

The LORD bless you and keep you!

The LORD let his face shine upon

you, and be gracious to you!

The LORD look upon you kindly and

give you peace!

This is truly one of the most all inclusive blessings

 in the Old Testament.

As the Lord blesses he also promises to keep you.

When the Lord keeps you there is nothing for you to fear...

there is no need for worries...no reason to be anxious.

The light that shines forth from the face of the Lord

is brightness beyond comprehension.

A light  brighter than the sun.

This light purifies your heart and soul.

A heavenly blessing that purifies within the depths of your heart

is certainly to be gracious...imbued with divine grace. 

Surrounded by this great blessing

the Lord looks upon as only he can; with kindness.

The Lord always wants what is good for you.

This blessing is flowing with the peace of the Lord.

It is his peace that the Lord gives us...

it is perfect peace...

complete peace because

 it comes for the source of all peace.

This blessing comes from the one 

who is the Light of the World.

I invite you to pray with this blessings.

Visualize yourself receiving this blessing...

May his light and his peace be with you

 throughout this new year...2017.

~~~Peace~~~

Corresponding Grace

~~~ Esther C:12, 14-16, 23-25 ~~~ Psalm 138 ~~~ Matthew 7:7-12 ~~~

Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me.

Why does Jesus need to tell us to ask, seek and knock?

Are we afraid of coming to Jesus with our needs?

Do we feel if we do not ask then we cannot be denied?

Ask and it will be given to you;

seek and you will find;

knock and the door will be opened to you.

Our prayers are always answered, but we 

do not always understand the answer.

There are passages in scripture that reveal 

to us just how long it sometimes takes 

for prayers to be answered.

The Israelites were in the desert for forty days.

Queen Esther lay face down on the ground in prayer.

She surrounded herself with her servants and maids.

Esther was attempting to isolate herself from outside distractions.

Now help me, who am alone and have no one but you,

O LORD, my God.

Esther cries out to the Lord 

in her most desperate time of need.

What about us?

Do we wait until we are desperate?

Isn't it much better to keep the lines 

of communication open with God all of the time?

Have you ever considered this...

What if God answers your prayers in order to reach someone else?

This may be how it happens...

You pray...God answers...you praise God for his answer...

you share this with someone else...

that person now finds reason to ask God for their needs.

Your Blessings from God are never just for yourself.

I heard this on the radio this morning.

Have you ever taken your blessings 

and used that grace to help you reach out to others?

Every Blessing comes with corresponding grace,

it is this grace which prepares us to reach out to someone in need.

Do to others whatever you would have them do to you. 

God makes all things work for good...his good.

Be willing, especially during this time of Lent,

 to God using you for the work in his kingdom here on Earth.

You have a unique part in his divine plan.

~~~Peace~~~

Mary, Mother of God

Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 

the Mother of God

~~~ Numbers 6:22-27 ~~~ Psalm 67 ~~~ Galatians 4:4-7 ~~~ 

~~~ Luke 2:16-21 ~~~

We begin this new year with one of the most beautiful 

Old Testament blessings...

The LORD bless you and keep you!

The LORD let his face shine upon

you, and be gracious to you!

The LORD look upon you kindly and

give you peace!

The Blessed Mother was Blessed with motherhood.

She was Blessed to be the Mother of God.

God keeps Mary forever close to himself...

She is the handmaid of the Lord.

God shed the grace from his face shining upon her...

that she is forever called Blessed.

The peace of God is also the peace Mary has to offer us.

God became one of us so that we can share in his divinity.

Jesus came so that we might be one with him

 just as he was one with Mary.

The closest we can be to Jesus is in receiving the Holy Eucharist.

Mary carried Jesus within her womb.

We can carry him into every cell of our body

 by consuming the consecrated bread and wine.

We receive Jesus, soul and divinity.

He has claimed us to be his own.

We are his in life and in death.

God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts...

As a mother does so often,

Mary kept in her heart all that had been revealed to her.

The heart of Mary holds our prayers 

silently within ready to intercede on our behalf.

May the Lord Bless you and keep you

as we begin another new year...

May 2016 be a year filled with kindness, mercy,

peace, and above all love.

Jesus became one of us.

JOY

to the World!

Blessings for 2015

Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary,

 the Mother of God

~~~ Numbers 6:22-27 ~~~ Psalm 67 ~~~ Galatians 4:4-7 ~~~

~~~ Luke 2:16-21 ~~~

There is much for us to draw from in the Old Testament,

but none so beautiful as the words of blessing

we hear today in the reading from Numbers.

The LORD said to Moses: 

“Speak to Aaron and his sons and tell them: 

This is how you shall bless the Israelites.

Say to them:

The LORD bless you and keep you!

The LORD let his face shine upon

you, and be gracious to you!

The LORD look upon you kindly and

give you peace!

So shall they invoke my name upon the Israelites, 

and I will bless them.”

God spoke these words of blessing to Moses...

Moses spoke the words to Aaron...

Arron and his sons spoke the words to the Israelites.

Today these same words are spoken to us and for us.

Every year we hear these words as we begin another new year.

Every year these words touch our soul exactly where we are.

We all begin a new year with hopes and fears.

We hope that our life situation will be better.

We fear that nothing in our life will change just because

 the calendar rolled over to another date.

I invite you to treasure these words of blessing...

Write them down and keep them with you.

Save them in your phone.

Whenever you have the opportunity to pray for someone else

or even for yourself, these words of blessing can bring comfort.

Psalm 67 continues to echo these words 

of blessing for us.

May God bless us in his mercy.

May God have pity on us and bless us;

may he let his face shine upon us.

Mary is honored today as the Mother of God.

Mary birthed Jesus allowing all of us to experience

 his face shining upon us.

The shepherds came in haste to see the face of this child. 

They were changed forever.

 ...the shepherds returned,

glorifying and praising God

for all they had heard and seen, 

just as it had been told to them.

The Lord Bless you and Keep you 

in this new year of 2015.

~~~Peace~~~

All Who Ate Were Satisfied

The Most Holy

Body and Blood

of Christ

 

~~Genesis 14:18-20~~Psalm 110~~ 1 Corinthians 11:23-26~~Luke 9:11b-17~~

 

Then taking the five loaves and the two fish,
and looking up to heaven,
he said the blessing over them, broke them,
and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd.
They all ate and were satisfied.
And when the leftover fragments were picked up,
they filled twelve wicker baskets.

 

 

Jesus looked up to heaven...to God the Father...

Demonstrating his connection with the Father and

his obedience to him in all things.

 

He said the blessing over the few loaves and fishes.

Nothing is too meager or too insignificant for God to work on his behalf.

 

Jesus breaks the bread and it turns into abundance

right before the eyes of the apostles.

The bread is broken.

Because of its brokenness it feeds thousands that day.

This is truly what we remember today...

the broken body of Jesus and the pouring out of his blood.

Through his sacrifice we are given the gift of the Eucharist...

abundantly and forever feeding us and blessing us.

 

All who ate of these tiny fragments of bread and fish were satisfied.

It is only through the blessing, said over these few offerings,

 that everyone who ate was satisfied.

 

How much food must you consume before you are satisfied?

 

Not only were all who ate satisfied,

they had twelve baskets of leftover fragments remaining.

 

Leftovers from God and for God.

 

How many people think of God as merely their leftovers.

How many people try in vain to satisfy their hunger on that which is not of God?

 

Lord, you satisfy the hungry heart.

I believe in the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.

It sustains and nourishes my soul.

Thank you, Lord, for this wondrous gift.

What is Within?

Mark 7:14-23

Eat whatever you want. It is not the foods you put into your body that are the problem. Jesus is continuing to inflame the Pharisees with statements like these. Jesus is a little frustrated that they are so narrow minded and naive. What you eat has nothing to do with what comes out of your mouth. Thus Jesus declared all foods clean! Whoa! I am sure the Pharisees were jumping out of their skin by such scandalous comments.

But Jesus, as he often does, goes on to reveal more of what the words really mean.

"But what comes out of the man, that is what defiles him. From within the man, from his heart, come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly. All these evils come from within and defile."

That is a mouthful for such a couple sentences. There is something not stated but implied in this passage. Any sin we commit first begins in our heart and mind. 'Evil thoughts' come prior to any actions either good or evil. Our thoughts really do make a difference. We cannot feed our minds with poison and expect not to be effected. I am not saying we must become saints and only think heavenly thoughts. I am not saying to act as if we live in a perfect world.

I sometimes do not watch the news or certain television programs because they do not feed my thoughts with what I want to be thinking about. I am certainly not a prude and I like to watch television as much as anyone else. I think a steady diet of violence makes us insensitive to reality.

If we just look at how television treats marriage it is no wonder the divorce rate continues to soar. It is no wonder my own children question the permanence of a relationship for life.

We could look at each of the sins Jesus stated and they all begin inside. If we let the darkness thrive in our hearts we will surely perish. Jesus was really saying all the rituals of cleanliness will not be able to cover what is inside.

We cannot hide what is inside because eventually, when we least expect it it overflows into the outside world. What we have inside eventually becomes a blessing to others or a hindrance for them. We cannot have it both ways at the same time. Which do you want?

Queen Sheba brought riches and royal gifts to Solomon seeking to experience his words of wisdom. The queen asked questions to gain wisdom. The Pharisees asked questions attempting to trick Jesus at every opportunity. Jesus freely gave his words of wisdom to all who followed him. But some were unable to hear or see this Divine Wisdom.

We can ask for God's wisdom in all aspects of our lives. The question is, do we? I am as guilty as the next person. Asking for God's wisdom is not part of all aspects of my daily life. With awareness we can change. With awareness we can become more conscious of our thoughts.

I chose this original picture of sand running though the harrow neck of an hourglass because sometimes it's tough allowing only goodness to occupy our thoughts. This kaleidoscope image I captured illustrates to me how the good thoughts pass between, around, through, and under any 'evil thoughts' that may be present.

I invite you to feed on thoughts that lead you to a greater holiness

and deeper relationship with our Lord.

Seek the wisdom of the Lord and it will be granted unto you.

Be a blessing to someone today!