Praying before making a decision

Dear reader

This liturgical season we are reading the Gospel of St Luke. We are in the month of September 2019. If you ever wanted to read the full Gospel, you can join in the universal church in reading the Daily Readings at Mass daily.

Today its 10th September and we read the Gospel of St Luke, Chapter 6:20-26, where Jesus is giving us the Beatitudes. I was meditating on these readings early morning and read before that passage and after that passage to get a full understanding of that scene, I discovered a few interesting things. The Holy Spirit always leads us to be ready to receive the Word of the Day, whatever our hearts, minds and souls are open to receive the Divine Word, the love that is seeking to know God more. The Holy Spirit opened my mind to a few interesting scenarios – that Jesus had a lot of people following him and it wasn’t until some time later, even after a few miracles that He decided to select the 12 Disciples from among them. Also the passage relating to the powerful presence of Jesus wherever He went. On this previous Sunday the Gospel passage was St Luke chapter 14:25 ‘Now great multitudes followed him’.

If we read the passages before Jesus sermon, we find that He had just chosen His 12 Disciples after praying the whole night before and early morning, He selected the 12. After that He came down from the mountain to a level place where He could be seen by the crowds that followed Him.

“And all the crowd sought to touch him, for power came forth from him and healed them all”.

The previous 4 chapters of St Luke’s Gospel describes Jesus’ birth upto the time when He started his ministry in chapter 4 where he goes into the desert to fast and pray for 40 days and nights – before his work began.

Jesus was surrounded by crowds and many people wherever He went, His presence was so powerful.

We learn that before he selected his disciples He prayed a lot on the mountain the whole night. From this we learn the importance of praying before any decisions we make. It is easy to get side tracked and allow ourselves to be overcome by worries about these decisions, but if we focus our minds on God and entrust in His Will, we will find peace, because we know that we have entrusted this matter to God and its in His hands. We still need to keep praying no matter what the outcome of that decision is.

May God Bless you!

~Mary

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Consecration to Sacred Heart of Jesus

Issued with the Encyclical Letter Annum Sacrum, 25 May 1899

Most sweet Jesus, redeemer of the human race, look down upon us, humbly prostrate before your altar. We are yours and yours we wish to be; but to be more surely united with you, behold each one of us freely consecrates himself today to your most sacred heart.

Many, indeed, have never known you, many too, despising your precepts, have rejected you. Have mercy on them all, most merciful Jesus, and draw them to your sacred heart.

Be you king, O Lord, not only of the faithful who have never forsaken you, but also of the prodigal children who have abandoned you; grant that they may quickly return to their father’s house, lest they die of wretchedness and hunger.

Be you king of those who are deceived by erroneous opinions, or whom discord keeps aloof, and call them back to the harbor of truth and unity of faith, so that soon there may be but one flock and one shepherd.

Be you king also of all those who sit in the ancient superstition of the Gentiles, and refuse not you to deliver them out of darkness into the light and kingdom of God.

Grant, O Lord, to your Church, assurance of freedom and immunity from harm; give peace and order to all nations, and make the earth resound from pole to pole with one cry:

Praise to the divine heart that wrought our salvation; to it be glory and honor forever.
Amen.

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The Birth of Jesus

Today at Holy Mass, 19th December, at the Homily, our priest spoke of the Birth of Jesus Christ. He spoke of one story goes of a saint or mystic who had asked Jesus what was it like for Our Lady, a new mother to give birth to her baby in a manger. (I mean which mother today would like her baby to be born in a manger! A mother takes great care and preparation for the new born baby for 9 months.) Jesus replied that Our Lady had said ‘Thank you God’. She was humble and accepting of her state in life. We can learn from Our Mother to be humble and accept God’s Will in our life.

Every year at Christmas, we see children around the Nativity Crib in absolute awe, just looking in childlike wonder. They ask questions about this simple scene, the story of Baby Jesus, the King of Kings, born in the poorest place on earth. Their parents explain to them the birth of Jesus. They point, they ask innocent questions. They love Christmas, they love the Nativity. We can learn a lot from children as Jesus says ‘Let the little children come unto me, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven’.

During this Advent week approaching the Birth of Christ, let us meditate on how we can become humble, accepting God’s Will in our life today, at this moment and thanking God for everything. Some ways we can do this is to meditate on Scripture Readings daily on a scripture passage, the Daily Readings for Mass, attending Daily Mass, saying the Rosary daily, Divine Mercy chaplet. Eucharistic Adoration is great for spending quiet time before our Lord.  You can have a normal conversation as you would have with a friend, talk to Jesus and tell Him everything, all your worries, your life story and ask Him questions too. He will first of all comfort you, the peace that the world cannot give you, He will give you, He will calm you down, strengthen you and tell you what you need to do, but you have to change your stubborn ways and listen to His Voice!

Gratitude is the key to life’s happiness, being grateful for each day, for little Blessings, for God’s Creation all around us, for our families, our friends, our home, food, water, jobs, money. He has given us everything we need. Thank you Jesus! Help us to be meek and humble of heart Amen!

Merry Christmas to all our friends!

~ Mary

 

 

 

 

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Let us Smile by Mother Teresa

“Let us always meet each other with smile, for the smile is the beginning of love.” Mother Teresa

It is easy to smile when life is great around us, when we achieve our goals in life – succeed at school, getting your driver’s licence, buying a car, getting that dream job, marrying, having a family, holidays, buying a new house, ticking off all the things on our ‘To Do List’ or ‘Wish List’, or having a lovely day.

Life can be pretty smooth sailing for a while, until life suddenly changes … we encounter issues with job instability, financial instability, health problems for ourselves or people we live with, external factors we don’t have control over – like nature taking its toll on our homes with floods, damage to houses and properties; wars, terrorism, plagues, rioting, new laws governing our future security in our country.

How do we smile when a loved one is suffering illness and passes away? The overwhelming grief and loss is ever present. All around you, you see people happy and going about their own lives.

The ‘smile’ that Blessed Teresa talks about is a spiritual smile! You can instantly smile when you feel Jesus ever present within you, when you have a deep personal relationship with the Lord Jesus and He only can give you that peace that the world cannot give. How?

1. By striving to live a virtuous life, praying continually, communicating with God our Father throughout the day, thanking Him for everything around us; praying for the intentions of others, sick, dying, poor, homeless, needs of the Catholic Church.
2. Reading the Scriptures daily and learning our catholic faith. Reading the Lives of the Saints we learn how they dealt with life’s challenges and adversities.
3. Attending Holy Mass regularly, listening to the Word of God and receiving the Holy Eucharist, food for our souls.
4. Regular Confession, striving to avoid sin
5. Eucharistic Adoration
6. Daily Examen of Conscience
7. Practicing good works of mercy

When we know more about Jesus, then we can smile from the heart and soul, even in times when we encounter adversities and challenges.

We smile at our brothers and sisters in Christ, wishing them peace and blessings! Each time we smile at someone we impart peace and blessings to be spread around the world! And we in turn also experience peace and healing.

Shalom!

 

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In Giving we Receive

I have heard many people complain that they dont like to go to Holy Mass as they are bored or distracted with noise, or just dont like the church and we hear many excuses to not attend! Its too hot to go out, or too cold, or its raining, or the seats are uncomfortable, etc.

The thought came to me in prayer one day – just a few weeks ago – that our church today needs a lot of prayers, every one of us are needed at church today to pray, especially when we are united as a community praying to our Heavenly Father with one voice at church. Jesus said ‘where two or more are gathered together in my name, there I am in their midst’.

Think of it – we hear of so many world issues and we feel helpless! But we can help a lot just by praying! God is always listening to our prayers!

It doesn’t matter what catholic church we go to, as long as we give of ourselves, our time, our prayers, united at Mass, praying for the world, the current issues facing the world. Our united prayers are heard. We pray for Our Pope, bishops and priests, religious, missionaries, our government leaders and people working with social justice issues, the sick of our local parish, the grieving, the elderly, the needs of the church, the poor, the homeless, the starving. We pray as a community. We offer these prayers at the Altar of God, at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, with the intentions of the Priest officiating at Mass. The prayers at the Offertory are offered to God our Heavenly Father.

If we pay real attention at Mass, to the Readings of the day, the Psalms and the Gospel, (lessons for every day life from the writings of St Paul, Psalms), the Offertory, the Consecration of the bread and wine into the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, a miracle happening, every minute of every day across the world … God present among us and received into our hearts. What a Blessing, what a priceless treasure!

Its even more beneficial if we prepare ourselves before we go to Mass with full intention of what we are about to participate in. We can prepare by reading over the Scripture Readings of the day – available online or can be downloaded on your mobile app. This alone has helped me to understand and appreciate the readings, what they mean to me – today, this very moment. It also helps if you are unable to hear the person who is reading from the pulpit, or even if you have a hearing impairment or there are children around you.

Our world is in great distress today and in need of a lot of prayers. Our local churches and parishes need our attendance and help even more today than ever, especially our united prayers.  Its also an opportunity to get to know your neighbours and local community at church and join in social activities or even volunteer your time.

“And it is in giving that we receive”.

Let us pray for one another!

 

 

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Lectio Divina

Start the new year with praise and worship of God! One of the ways to build up our spiritual and prayer life is with praying the daily communal prayer of the church – Lectio Divina – an encounter with God. These readings and prayers are said in the morning, afternoon and night. Isnt it great that around the world, religious communities in church and the laity are gathered together praising God with these same prayers!

Download the App from this weblink to your mobile phone or pc:

https://play.google.com/store/search?q=lectio%20divina&c=apps

If you dont wish to use the App, you can view it online at this site:

Praying with Scripture

A video lesson in how to pray Lectio Divina :

 

 

God Bless ~ Mary

 

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Hope

Hope

Christian hope is a humble and strong virtue that supports us, so that we do not drown under the many difficulties we face in life. Hope in the Lord never disappoints us; it’s a font of joy and peace in our hearts.

Pope Francis Homily Casa St Martha 17 March 2016

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Christian radio programs

Don’t have time to watch TV? Listen to the radio, while you work, drive, walk.

Here are some Christian radio websites that I listen to and find helpful …

http://radio.visionaustralia.org/our-networks

http://www.christianradio.com/

 

 

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Living in this present time!

I was driving yesterday and tuned in the radio. There was a lot of discussions on state of the nation issues, welfare, pensions, unemployment, which was enough to send me into a spirit of desolation! We daily hear news of the state of the world, the violence erupting at any place, at any time, the economy, governments, marriage, identity, religious freedom, etc. People are angry, they have worked hard all their lives and to be deprived of their rewards at retirement is unfair; our local farmers are unhappy that their family business is affected; parents of schoolchildren are unhappy with the system; people out of work at middle age because employers are not employing them. The pension is not guaranteed anymore. Its overwhelming the complexity of these issues and we feel totally powerless. Jesus said ‘Trust in Me’ when times get difficult.

During Eucharistic Adoration I surrendered all these problems of the world to the Lord Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, saying to Him ‘why Lord do we have so many problems today’. The reply came ‘You were born for this moment in history, to face it and be courageous’. It was a surprise to hear it, but I needed to hear it!

We are all born for this time to be brave and courageous, we have to face these problems with God on our side. With God’s help only we can find the strength and courage to do whatever He tells us. Each of us have gifts that is given to us by God and we can only pray and ask Him what it is He wants us to do in this present age. We can very well shirk our duties, let someone else do it, shrug our shoulders and say ‘well blame the world’ and bury our head in the sand.

God has created you for this moment in world history, to be loving to your family, forgive, help one another at home and those around you, someone on the street needs your help, offer them help, stand up for justice for the good of all around us, not just for ourselves, but for the good of all. Increase your prayer life, yes even in the middle of housework, study, working, travelling to and from school or work, at the doctors, wherever, just say a little prayer.

Spend time at Mass, receive the Sacrament of Holy Communion, Confession, Eucharistic Adoration, daily Rosary, Divine Mercy Chaplet. It seems a lot to build into your daily time schedule, but if you give God the time, He will reward you a hundredfold.

A lot of people want to help the world with donating their time and it seems out of reach, but with prayer we can achieve more. Pray for the Missions, the hungry, the homeless, those in prison, those at war, for the sick, the disabled, the dying, the elderly. God will fill our souls with immense Grace we need to lead a more fulfilling spiritual life and prepare us for our Eternal Home.

Shalom!

 

 

 

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Morning Offering

Morning Offering based on Revelations of Jesus to Sister Josefa Menendez

When you awake, enter at once into My Heart, and when you are in it, offer My Father all your actions united to the pulsations of My Heart . . . If [a person is] engaged in work of no value in itself, if she bathes it in My Blood or unites it to the work I Myself did during My mortal life, it will greatly profit souls . . . more, perhaps, than if she had preached to the whole world. You will be able to save many souls that way.” 

——-Our Lord to Sr. Josefa Menendez [1890-1923] 

 

 

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