Only Two Defining Forces

Mahalo to Judie for sharing this with me.




Only two defining forces have ever offered to die for you, Jesus Christ and the American G.I.

Jesus died for your soul, the G.I. for your freedom.

Thank them both today.

Humor Break - The Gates of Heaven

This one came from both John and Lloyd. Thanks Gentlemen!

After a long illness, a woman died and arrived at the Gates of Heaven. While she was waiting for Saint Peter to greet her, she peeked through the Gates. She saw a beautiful banquet table. Sitting all around were her parents and all the other people she had loved and who had died before her. They saw her and began calling greetings to her -- "Hello" "How are you! We've been waiting for you!" "Good to see you."

When Saint Peter came by, the woman said to him, "This is such a wonderful place! How do I get in?"

"You have to spell a word," Saint Peter told her.

"Which word?" the woman asked.

"Love."

The woman correctly spelled "Love" and Saint Peter welcomed her into Heaven.

About six months later, Saint Peter came to the woman and asked her to watch the Gates of Heaven for him that day. While the woman was guarding the Gates of Heaven, her husband arrived.

"I'm surprised to see you," the woman said. "How have you been?"

"Oh, I've been doing pretty well since you died," her husband told her. "I married the beautiful young nurse who took care of you while you were ill. And then I won the lottery. I sold the little house you and I lived in and bought a big mansion. And my wife and I traveled all around the world. We were on vacation and I went water skiing today. I fell, the ski hit my head, and here I am. How do I get in?"

"You have to spell a word," the woman told him.

"Which word?" her husband asked.

"Czechoslovakia."

The Brown Scapular and Our Lady of Mount Carmel

Picture courtesy of Mary Pages

Blessed Virgin Mary to Saint Dominic, "One Day through the Rosary and Scapular, I will save the World."

"Whosoever dies clothed in this scapular shall not suffer eternal fire."

This is Mary's Promise made July 16, 1251 to Saint Simon Stock.

The devils revealed to Francis of Yepes, the brother of St. John of the Cross, that three things especially tormented them.

1. the Name of Jesus

2. the Name of Mary

3. the Brown Scapular of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. "Take off that habit," they cried to him, "which snatches so many souls from us. All those clothed in it die piously and escape us. From the Pieta Prayer Booklet

Prayer or Novena of Our Lady of Mount Carmel

O Beautiful flower of Carmel, most fruitful vine, splendor of heave, holy and singular, who brought forth the Son of God, still ever remaining a pure virgin, assist me in mynecessity! (pause and mention petitions).

In you I find consolation when afflicted, protection when persecuted, strength when burdened

with trails, and light in doubt and darkness. Dear Lady, I firmly believe that you can grant me the grace I implore.

My dearest Mary, be pleased to accept this act of prefect resignation to the decrees of your adorable heart, which I sincerely desire to be fulfilled in and by me and all God's creatures forever.

Amen

Local - Strange Happenings - Holy Ghost Bird??

Photo courtesy of NOAA

My fellow dogwalkers and I have been noticing something strange in our neighborhood. Fairy Terns hover over our dogs when we walk them in the park.

First there were one or two of them and they come very close. My dog is so low to the ground, she is oblivious to them.

The other day, there were about 6 of them and the followed us onto the street.

At first they frightened me because although these seabirds are beautiful, they are also kind of spooky-looking.

I asked a few people about them but they didn't even know what kind of birds they were. However, one of my friends did and I did a little research on the internet. Found out they are pretty harmless and if anything, they could be endangered.

But the question remains: Why do they hover over the dogs?

This is what I found out:from Celestial Visions - Fairy Tern Birds

On some tropical islands, the fairy tern is known as the Holy Ghost bird


The fairy tern is a celestial vision: Its silky plumage pure white, its slender wings translucent, its large, black-rimmed eyes the deepest midnight blue. When one hovers above you, all innocent curiosity, you can easily understand why on some tropical islands it is called the Holy Ghost bird.


Fairy terns are small, robin-sized birds with long wings. They have no natural enemies, and generally they are gentle, tame and trusting. They live on remote tropical islands in the Pacific, Indian and South Atlantic Oceans, out-of-the-way spots some people equate with paradise. With their ethereal beauty, the dainty birds fit right in.


I watched them on Bird Island, northernmost of the Seychelle Islands in the Indian Ocean. This 62-acre coral-and-sand outpost set in a turquoise sea is aptly named: Upon it nest in serried ranks nearly a million sooty terns, as well as brown and lesser noddies and about a hundred pairs of fairy terns.


Eccentric breeders, fairy terns are also called love terns. Unlike sooty terns that lay their eggs with synchronous precision during two weeks in early June, they breed at any time of year, at least in the Seychelles. One pair near my cabin was gently amorous in May: The mates sat close together on a branch and alternately preened the fine feathers on each other's faces, the preenee uttering soft, buzzing chirps of pleasure.

Dirt

Mahalo Brother John for sharing this.


God is sitting in Heaven when a scientist says to Him, "Lord, we don't need you anymore! Science has finally figured out a way to create life out of nothing. In other words, we can now do what you did in the 'beginning'."

"Oh, is that so? Tell me ... " replies God.

"Well," says the scientist, "we can take dirt and form it into the likeness of You and breathe life into it, thus creating man."

"Well, that's interesting. Show me."

So the scientist bends down to the earth and starts to mold the soil.

"Oh no, no, no..." interrupts God,

"Get your own dirt."

Novena to the Holy Family

Hat tip to Maureen for posting this Novena. She wrote:

It seems to me that the devil has been hitting Catholic homeschool families hard lately. I know of several families currently struggling with pending divorce. Of course, satan is always going to hit those doing the Lord's work the hardest. And we Catholic homeschoolers are doing no less than the Lord's work.

With that in mind, I hope that you all will join me in praying a novena for our Catholic homeschooling community, particularly our marriages.

NOVENA TO THE HOLY FAMILY

Husbands and Wives

Source: The Word Among Us June 2006 Issue

Big mahalo nui loa to Sts. Peter and Paul Parish for providing this wonderful magazine.

Excerpts from articles from husband and wife Randall and Theresa Cirner.

Husbands, Love Your Wives! - 5 Actions That Say I Love You

"Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her" (Ephesians 5:25).

How Do I Love You?

1. By Praying. Prayer is the most important thing a husband can do for his wife.

2. By Talking. Communication is very important between a husband and a wife. However, the timing of the talk is also important.

3. By Meeting Needs. Help your wife's needs. The important needs are as follows:

a. Time for God;
b. Time with other women;
c. Time out or in other words, a break

4. By Encouraging. Say something sincere to will make her feel good about herself.

5. By Going Out Together. The occasional date is very important to a happy marriage.

How to Really Love Your Husband?

Making it Real. Consider your husbands likes and preferences in little things as well as big.

Questions for Reflection:

1. Do I pray for my husband?

2. Do I show him respect?

3. Do I cook for my husband or for myself?

4. Do I do the things my husband asks me to do?

5. Does our time out together ever reflect my husband's interests?

6. Do I serve my husband cheerfully when he is sick?

7. Do I impose my standards of 'proper' behavior on my husband?

8. Do I resent my husband's time with his friends?

9. Is your home a place that both of you find physically pleasing?

As yourself each day? How is the lord calling me to show my love to my husband today?

"Outdo one another in showing honor and mutual affection' (Romans 12:10).

Laywoman, Wife, and Mother - Blessed Eurosia Fabris

Hat tip to Lay Witness Magazine

Source: The Holy See

Recently, our Holy Father Benedict XVI beatified Eurosia Fabris, an Italian woman who raised 11 children.

"The virtues of 'Mamma Rosa,' who died in 1932, were honored during the
beatification ceremony in Vicenza. 'She knew how to transform her
very large family into a school of holiness,' Vatican Radio said on the eve of
the ceremony.

Click above link to The Holy See for the complete story.

Priority Loving in the Family

While reading the May-June Issue of Lay Witness Magazine I came across the following quote from Kimberly Hahn:

"Priority loving in the family means loving your spouse first, your children second. The love of husband and wife is the wellspring of love for the entire family. Though our children's needs seem greater and more immediate, we must be careful not to allow their needs to consume the time and energy needed for our spouse. Besides, the greatest need of our children is to experience the love of their parents for each other. Often when my husband and I embrace, our young children try to wedge between us--not to break us apart but to feel the squeeze of love."

From A Mother's Plan of Life: Living God's Call in the Domestic Church

The Paradoxical Commandments and the Mother Theresa Connection

People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered.
Love them anyway.

If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.
Do good anyway.

If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway.

The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.

Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.

The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds.
Think big anyway.

People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs.
Fight for a few underdogs anyway.

What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
Build anyway.

People really need help but may attack you if you do help them.
Help people anyway.

Give the world the best you have and you'll get kicked in the teeth.
Give the world the best you have anyway.


A big mahalo to Sisters Suzanne and Maurice of Holy Family Home in Osaka, Japan and Elizabeth Keith, for sharing this story with my family.

Personally, this was one of my "favorite quotes" by Mother Theresa. It was only after recently speaking to mutual friends of the Keiths, Sister of Charity sisters Suzanne and Maurice, as well as Mrs. Elizabeth Keith, who we had the pleasure of meeting last night, that we learned who the original author was and the interesting story behind it.


Source: Kent M. Keith

I'm sure most of you are familiar with the foregoing "commandments" and if you are like most people, you have attributed this work to Mother Theresa of Calcutta.

However, Kent M. Keith wrote it when he was a 19 year old student at Harvard.

The Paradoxical Commandments were written by Kent M. Keith when he was 19, a sophomore at Harvard College. He wrote them as part of a book for student leaders entitled The Silent Revolution: Dynamic Leadership in the Student Council, published by Harvard Student Agencies in 1968. The Paradoxical Commandments subsequently spread all over the world, and have been used by millions of people.

Mother Teresa, or one of her co-workers, put the Paradoxical Commandments up on the wall of Mother Teresa's children's home in Calcutta. That fact was reported in a book compiled by Lucinda Vardey, Mother Teresa: A Simple Path, which was published in 1995. As a result, some people have attributed the Paradoxical Commandments to Mother Teresa.

As Kent explains in his book, Do It Anyway: The Handbook for Finding Personal Meaning and Deep Happiness in a Crazy World:
"I found out about it in September 1997 at my Rotary Club meeting. We usually begin each meeting with a prayer or a thought for the day, and a fellow Rotarian of mine got up and noted that Mother Teresa had died, and said that, in her memory, he wanted to read a poem she had written that was titled "Anyway." I bowed my head in contemplation, and was astonished to recognize what he read–it was eight of the original ten Paradoxical Commandments."

"I went up after the meeting and asked him where he got the poem. He said it was in a book about Mother Teresa, but he couldn't remember the title. So the next night I went to a bookstore and started looking through the shelf of books about the life and works of Mother Teresa. I found it, on the last page before the appendices in Mother Teresa: A Simple Path. The Paradoxical Commandments had been reformatted to look like a poem, and they had been retitled "Anyway." There was no author listed, but at the bottom of the page, it said: "From a sign on the wall of Shishu Bhavan, the children's home in Calcutta."

"Mother Teresa, or one of her coworkers, thought that the Paradoxical Commandments were important enough to put up on the wall at their children's home, to look at, day after day, as they ministered to the children. That really hit me. I wanted to laugh, and cry, and shout–and I was getting chills up and down my spine. Perhaps it hit me hard because I had a lot of respect for Mother Teresa, and perhaps because I knew something about children's homes. Whatever the reason, it had a huge impact on me. That was when I decided to speak and write about the Paradoxical Commandments again, thirty years after I first wrote them."