Lenten Prayer for Life

Lenten Prayer for Life

'40 Days for Life' and the U.S. Bishops are asking each of us to fast and pray daily to end abortion.

Father of all mercy,

we thank you for this season

 of grace and light.

We know that sin has blinded us.

Draw us ever closer to you, 

in prayer and penance.

Since you, O God, are light itself,

give all your people 

a clearer understanding

of what is sin, and what is virtue.

Grant in particular that we may see

 as never before,

the profound dignity of every human life,

including the vulnerable unborn children.

Give us grace to defend

 our brothers and sisters in the womb

by our prayers, our words,

and our self-sacrificing actions.

We pray this through Christ our Lord.

Amen

image is from here

Wordle 97: The Divine Visit

In just one moment

after gazing  into the face

of the Divine Mother, 

I realized that the prophets’ heroic

words had not described her

beauty and gentleness, only her power.

My eyes filled with tears of joy, my heart overflowed

with sublime certainty 

that there were no limits

to the possibility of her celestial intervention.

The discipline of my  patience wore thin at the desire of 

stealing one more look at her immaculate self.

She had taken pieces of my heart with her when 

she seemed to fly back to her heavenly home.

Was I being selfish about wanting more than one visit? 

Time passed and after the euphoria eased, gratitude enveloped me and I gave thanks for the wonderment of my blissful gift.

Macro Monday: Virgin Mary

Blest Virgin Mary
harked to the angel's message,
accepting God's pledge.

other haikus at 
gracious Rebecca's Recuerda Mi Corazon

view other macros here

Quotography: William Wordsworth

"Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart."
~William Wordsworth~

more Wordsworth quotes at Quotography
This photo is of a page
in my scrapbook album titled
"Scrapbooking My Faith."
I compiled it
during an online Big Picture Class
led by Courtney Walsh,
in which I engaged.
During this class, I delved deeply
into my beliefs.
Now, from Wordworth's point of view,
I see that I did fill my paper
with the breathings of my heart!  

Prayer to God: Trust

A Christmas gift from two granddaughters

 is aiding me on my Lenten path this year.  

They had checked my wish list on Amazon.com 

and saw that my number one wish 

was to have a year's subscription

to the Magnificat magazine 

published by St. Anthony Messenger Press.

Having an interest in the lives of saints,

I ordered Lent with the Saints: Daily Reflections

by Greg Friedman, O.F.M.

Today's reading and suggestion...

(Reflect, then write a petition 

for some special need.)

led to my composing a prayer.

Lord, I ask that my trust in you
grow and bloom
as does the cactus in the desert.
My thirst for faith in you
to be quenched alone
by your Word. 

ABC Wednesday: Faith

                 

                                                      My newest blog                                

                                                     began with hopes 

                                              of building my own faith           

                                                and spreading the Word                     

in an unassuming way 

                                                with still some hesitancy.

                                                      I have followed 
                                           some faith-filled, spiritual blogs 

                                         with regularity since December.                                                          

                                      I began to feel something stirring up,

                                         a heart-filled and burning desire

                                                  to pursue this mission

                                                       with those on 

                                                              the Faithful Bloggers site.

                                             Wish me Bon Voyage!     

 

                                              

                                                                    

                                                                          

Sign of faith displayed
on St. Lawrence's church front
proclaiming belief.

more 'f' words on ABC Wednesday

 

 

One Word's One Month Link-up

Am I just paying lip service

by saying that I will put my life
and my troubles into God's hands?

if that is true, I will accomplish nothing this whole year,

that much I know through my past,

thinking that I am a senior adult

and I should be to manage figuring out my troubles

however, I have made little progress

in handing over these problems:

to recover energy for life

to lay aside old resentments

to rid myself of harbored guilt

of the past that cannot be changed

to make the decision

of whether I want to continue living alone,

to perceive if being single

is God's will

or is His will for me

is to open myself to vulnerability

and risk rejection
when I invite someone into my life
after seven years of widowhood,

dare I entrust God?
dare I not?

usually I think when faced with indecision,
"what's the worst that can happen?"

the only result that I can perceive
is that I will continue to live alone

please pray for me

as I consider surrendering
my obstinacy and fear,
to jump with a leap of faith
and truly ENTRUST
willful self to God.

Blessed be.

Quotography: Valentine

"To love is to receive
a glimpse of heaven."
~Karen Sunde~

more Valentine quotes
at Quotography

Weekend Reflections: Crucifix Reflected

This crucifix hangs
in St. Francis Church, revered
because of Christ's love.

more Weekend Reflections

Most crucifixes in Catholic churches are attached to a wall. This one hangs from the ceiling, giving depth to our Lord's figure and the wooden cross on which it hangs. The pastor who oversaw the addition to St. Francis' Church was fortunate to have extraordinary parishioners who were gifted artisans.

ABC Wednesday: Elevation and Eucharist

The Eucharist is enclosed in the Monstrance for an outdoor adoration for Corpus Christi Sunday this past summer.

Here is the elevation of the Eucharist by our Bishop
when he visited our parish in 2012.
more words beginning with E on ABC WEDNESDAY

Ash Wednesday, Beginning of Lent

Today marks the beginning of Lent. More information about Lent can be found here.

I received the ashes at Mass this morning. I take pleasure in being at a weekday

morning Mass because the school children attend.  Seeing the younger ones' exuberance

lifts my spirits.  When the time came for our pastor to bless the ashes, he explained

that receiving the ashes is a sacramental, not a sacrament so everyone could receive them.  
To get a clearer understanding of the difference between a sacramental and sacrament, go here and here 

I saw a second grader punch her hand in the air because she realized that she could participate.  We adults should work on this enthusiasm for our faith.  

At previous weekend Masses, Father addressed the importance of choosing faults we need to work on during Lent.  They are called the three Pillars which include these:
Prayers
Fasting
Almsgiving

If one wishes to grow closer to Christ, each person chooses something in each of these areas to try to accomplish a closer relation to Jesus.

My Version of David's Psalm 63

In the depth of my soul
is a hunger and thirst for you, O Lord;

like the eagle whose wing is broken
who yearns to soar to his nest.

Lamenting my brokenness, 
I search for the road map
that shows me the way to you.

Will my eyes recognize it?
Or will it remain hidden,
keeping me on the wrong path?

Remove the veil so that 
I will consume your Words 
to satisfy my hunger
and my thirst will be quenched 
by your abiding love.

Psalm 63 NIV 

Quotography: Birthday

"God gave us the gift of life; it is up to us 

to give ourselves the gift of living well."

~Voltaire~

Voltaire was the nom de plume (pen name) 

of Francois-Marie Arouet.

More details about him

can be found here.

more birthday quotes at Quotography

Quotography: Edith Wharton

"To be the candle or the mirror that reflects it."

~Edith Wharton~

more quotes on Quotography

Prayer to St. Anthony Answered

We of the Catholic faith have many saints.  More than a few are known to those of other faiths, as St. Christopher, St. Francis of Assisi and St. Patrick. The ten most popular saints are featured here.  Many Americans will be celebrating Valentine's Day.  St. Valentine was executed on February 14 in the year 270 A.D.  I have been known to call on one particular saint (St. Anthony, patron saint of lost things and people) when I have lost an item and am frustrated in my inability to find it.  
This leads to my asking the help of St. Anthony each day since my beloved rascal Ting got out unbeknownst to me this past Friday evening.  I had hosted a book club gathering in my home.  I remember standing at the door as my friends left.  I had already shooed Ting away from the door, but apparently she sneaked behind and past me.  Later as I was readying myself for bed, I did my check under my bed because Ting likes to run ahead of me to settle there.  No Ting, so I went to bed, thinking she was in her second favorite place, in my computer room.
The next morning I could not find her ANYWHERE!  So, on come my Wellies and my raincoat.  I strolled around the entire perimeter of my home calling her name.  No meowing heard, and no Ting. Every few minutes I opened my door and called her name.  Later that day I went door-to-door in my immediate neighborhood with a photo of Ting.

 One neighbor said her granddaughter had seen a cat when she walked the grandmother's dog.  That was probably a cat who runs loose in our park.  On Sunday my daughter could hear the meowing, but it was too cold to take one of the pieces of the neighbor's underskirt (this is a mobile home park) off for us to get a better look.  {Oh,yes, BTW I have continued to pray to St. Anthony for his intercession.}  
The weather today was warmer, and my youngest son took off needed piece for us to get a better view under the neighbor's home.  Jeremy crawled under; he heard Ting, but she had crept into the insulation and he couldn't get to her.  We checked intermittently to see if Ting had moved to the opening.  After Jeremy went home, I went to Dollar General.  While there, a light bulb lit up in my brain, "Buy a can of turkey cat food!"  I figure that was the work of St. Anthony because he has let me down only once. (That could be another tale.)  Immediately upon arriving home, I opened the can and and laid it in front of the opening.  About ten minutes later as I was walking by a window and talking to my daughter, I shrieked, "I see Ting!  I'll talk later."  I sauntered over to Ting as she's nibbling on the food. (She's dainty, you know.)  Talking sweetly to her all the while, I move the can so she must move completely from under the house. Then I pick her up along with the food.  I'm telling her how much I have missed her.  Jax has too!  He has been complaining about her absence.  So Jax and I are happy campers!  I have said my thanks to St. Anthony.  
blessed be