Wednesday, March 19, 2014

ABC Wednesday: Jesuits



Our ladies’ group, Women at the Well, 
is reading this book by a Jesuit priest Father James Martin.  
Since we meet only once a month 
and do not meet in the summer, 
we will continue to read this interesting book into 2015.  
Father Martin relates the saints’ lives, 
as well as those who led saintly, holy lives, 
and how they have impacted his own life.  
The saints or saintly that we have encountered thus far are these:
The Saint of the Sock Drawer- Jude
Joan of Arc
Thomas Merton
Ignatius of Loyola
Pedro Arrupe
Bernadette Soubirous
And for April, we are reading about these:
Mother Teresa
Pope John XXIII

 Then some of our ladies 
share the history and spirituality of each saint 
we have studied with their own unique presentations.  
We are fortunate to have such industrious 
and interesting speakers in our group.

I highly recommend this book 
for its spiritual value 
as well as its entertaining way of sharing 
the lives of these faith-filled people 
whose journey we may choose to emulate.



linking to 
hosted by
the inimitable and founding blogger,
Mrs. Nesbitt




Monday, March 17, 2014

St. Patrick's Day

May the faith of St. Patrick
bring you courage 
to stand up for your beliefs
in the Holy Trinity,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

From St. Patrick's Breastplate-
Christ shield me this day;
Christ with me,
Christ before me,
Christ behind me,
Christ in me,
Christ beneath me, 
Christ above me,
Christ on my right,
Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down,
Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of every person who thinks of me,
Christ in the eye that sees me,
Christ in the ear that hears me.

Image of St. Patrick

Details about St. Patrick's life
can be found here.


Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Lenten Path

Lead me, O Lord, on the path
that leads to your Easter celebration.

digital project using
From Teddi with Love program and 
one of my own photos

Friday, March 7, 2014

My Random 5 for March 7

1. Our Bible Study celebrated Mardi Gras.  
I blogged about our fete on Tuesday, but I had no photo of our group yet.  
Thanks to one of the ladies who took our picture, 
I now have one to post. Thanks, BJ.

2. Having missed a few Bible Study meetings 
because of my anxiety about driving on snowy roads,
 I was greeted with “I’m glad that you’re back.”  
What a wonderful boost that was for my sagging psyche!

3.I bought a Samsung 3 Tablet last Saturday.  
The advantages I’m enjoying are- 
reading an ebook with much less swiping it 
to turn pages 
and I can journal at my kitchen table 
with less strain on my arthritic neck. 
I passed my Kindle on to my daughter.


4. Speaking of reading, 
I am currently reading Victims by Jonathan Kellerman.  
I really like the  yin and yang of the two main characters Alex Delaware 
and the policeman Milo.  If you like mysteries, it’s a real page-turner.

5. The sun is shining and the high predicted for today is 60 degrees!  

Note to readers, my daughter is healing quite nicely from her surgery.  
God is good and so are my friends who prayed for her!

hop on over
to Nancy Claeys'


Wednesday, March 5, 2014

ABC Wednesday: H is for Holiness

A friend from church recommended 
Thirty-Day Devotions for the Holy Souls by Susan Tassone


to our group that is meeting Sunday mornings for a six-week period. 
I immediately ordered it online, and boy, am I glad that I did.  
Even though the book is not in sync with the season of Lent, 
I felt that Day 25’s devotion about fasting 
is an excellent message for all of us who are observing Lent.

What follows are Tassone’s words verbatim-

“We are all called to fast.  
However, not all are called to fast in the same way.  
We should seek God, ask His direction, 
and then follow the impulses we sense coming from Him:
Fast from bitterness- feast on forgiveness.
Fast from self-concern- feast on compassion for others.
Fast from personal anxiety- feast on eternal truth.
Fast from anger- feast on patience.
Fast from words that destroy- feast on words that build.
Fast from discontent- feast on gratitude.
Fast from discouragement- feast on hope.”

I invite you to try   
feasting on Susan Tassone’s words
during your Lenten journey.  
I know that I intend to do that 
with hope of growing in holiness.


linking to
hosted this week by Reader Wil

and 
Rebecca's


Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Mardi Gras Fete at Bible Study

King Cake, as shown on Concannon's Bakery Facebook page

One of our Bible Study ladies brought a King Cake
from Concannon's to our Mardi Gras Fete today.
 Other ladies baked other goodies for us 
to indulge ourselves on this Fat Tuesday.  
We feast today, for tomorrow,  
Ash Wednesday, we will fast on the first day of Lent.  
Our faith encourages us to adhere to the Three Pillars of Lent 
which include prayer, fasting and alms giving. 
During Lent, we fast and abstain 
from meat on Ash Wednesday and all Fridays.  
Even children are encouraged to do 
a form of these three pillars consistent with their age.  
Our Bible Study group chose a different way for us 
to help ourselves to grow spiritually during this Lenten season.  
Each of us wrote three or more suggestions 
pertaining to the three pillars on slips of paper.  
Then all of these were put in a beautiful container.  
Each week, three slips of paper will be pulled out; 
each will be read out loud.  
Then each of us can choose one or more of them for that week.  
I like that I will be united 
with my friends in our journey to Easter 2014.

Sister Jean, CSA, has several links 
on her web site to aid anyone
wanting suggestions for his/her
Lenten journey.
 
May the grace of our Lord 
and the love of our Blessed Mother 
be with each of us during Lent.


Sunday, March 2, 2014

Postcards from Paradise:

The bells chime, 
sounding Jesus’ invitation 
to enter His abode and spend some quiet time 
with Him.  Who can turn away from that summons?  
Is there anything more important than time spent with our 
Lord?  Would not time spent here provide grace enough 
to make all actions weave together more effortlessly?  
Of course, one does not need to enter a church to meet with 
Jesus, but the environs of a church provides us a place built 
with the intentionality of being a haven for prayer.  
 Why not answer the call 
the next time 
you hear 
the bells?



linking to
Rebecca's