Picture source and the following introduction to this lovely Marian devotion is from: Maria Bambina The Italian words "Maria Bambina" mean "Baby Mary." Although the Holy Childhood of the Blessed Virgin, under the image of Our Lady as an infant, is honored in Mexico , Poland and Italy, relatively few Catholics in the United States know of this devotion. Several saints, including St. John Eudes, St. Joseph Cupertino and St. Padre Pio loved to contemplate the Blessed Mother as a baby. Reflecting on Our Blessed Mother as an infant and child will enrich your love and devotion to her as it did for these saints. As the perfect disciple of Jesus Christ, Our blessed Mother imitated Our Lord in all of His virtues. She imitated, in advance, the virtues of Our Lord's Holy Childhood.
The feast on the Nativity of Mary is honored on September 8. Her birth was miraculous as she was conceived without sin as a special grace because God had selected her to become the mother of His Son, the spiritual mother of all men, and the holiest of God's creatures. Through her, Queen of heaven and of earth, all grace is given to men. Through her, by the will of the Trinity, the unbelieving receive the gift of faith; the afflicted are tendered the works of mercy; and the members of Christ grow in likeness of their Head. In Mary all human nature is exalted. We rejoice in her birthday, as the Church has done from the earliest times.
* Keep skunks and bankers at a distance.
* Life is simpler when you plow around the stump.
* Words that soak into your ears are whispered...not yelled.
* Meanness don't jes' happen overnight.
* Forgive your enemies. It messes up their heads.
* Do not corner something that you know is meaner than you.
* You cannot unsay a cruel word.
* Every path has a few puddles.
* When you wallow with pigs, expect to get dirty.
* The best sermons are lived, not preached.
* Most of the stuff people worry about ain't never gonna happen anyway.
* Don't judge folks by their relatives.
* Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
* Don't interfere with somethin' that ain't botherin' you none.
* Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a rain dance.
* If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop diggin'.
* Sometimes you get, and sometimes you get got.
* The biggest troublemaker you'll probably ever have to deal with, watches you from the mirror every mornin'.
* Always drink upstream from the herd.
* Good judgment comes from experience, and a lotta that comes from bad judgment.
* Lettin' the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier than puttin' it back in.
* If you get to thinkin' you're a person of some influence, try orderin' somebody else's dog around.
* Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. Leave the rest to God.
1. Be sure and refill the ice trays, we are going to have company after while.
2. Watch for the postman, I want to get this letter in the mail today.
3. Quit slamming that screen door!
4. Be sure to pull the windows down when you leave, it looks like it might rain -- and bring in the clothes on the line, too.
5. Don't forget to wind the clock before you go to bed.
6. Wash your feet before you go to bed, they are nasty from playing bare footed outside all day.
7. Why can't you remember to roll up your pants legs? Getting them caught in the bicycle chain so many times is tearing them up.
8. You have torn the knees out of that pair of pants so many times there is nothing left to put a patch on.
9. Don't you go outside with your good school clothes on!
10. Hang up your Sunday School clothes, you know you need to pass them down to your brother in good condition.
11. Go comb your hair. It looks like the rats have nested in it all night.
12. Be sure and pour the cream off the top of the milk when you open the new bottle. I need it for baking and Pa's coffee.
13. Take that empty bottle to the store with you so you won't have to pay a deposit on another one.
14. Put a dish towel over the cake so the flies won't get on it.
15. Quit jumping on the floor! I have a cake in the oven and you are going to make it fall if you don't quit!
16. Let me know when the Fuller Brush man comes by, I need to get a few things from him.
17. You boys stay close by, the car may not start and I will need you to help push it off
18. There is a dollar in my purse, go by the service station and get five gallons of gas when you start to town.
19. Open the back door and see if we can get a breeze through here, it is getting hot.
20. You can walk to the store; it won't hurt you to get some exercise. Maybe you will learn to be more careful with your bicycle.
21. Don't sit to close to the TV it will hurt your eyes.
22. If you pull that stunt again, I am going to wear you out!
23. Don't lose that button, I will sew it back on after while.
24. Wash under your neck before you come to the table, you have beads of dirt and sweat all under there.
25. Get out from under that sewing machine, pumping it messes up the thread!
26. Do you want to go get me a switch?
27. Be sure and fill the lamps this morning so we don't have to do that tonight in the dark.
28. Here, take this old magazine to the outhouse (toilet) when you go, we are almost out of paper out there.
29. Go out to the well and draw a bucket of water for me to wash dishes in.
30. Don't turn the radio on now, I want the battery to be up when the Grand Ole Opry comes on.
31. No! I don't have five cents for you to go to the show, do you think money grows on trees?
32. Eat those vegetables; they will make you big and strong like your daddy.
33. That dog is NOT coming in this house! I don't care how cold it is out there, dogs just don't come in the house.
34. Sit still! I am trying to get your hair cut straight and you keep moving and it is getting botched up.
35. Hush your mouth! I don't want to hear words like that. I will wash your mouth out with soap again!
36. It is time for your system to be cleaned out, I'm going to give you a dose of Castor Oil in the morning.
37. If you get a spanking in school and I find out about it, you will get another one when you get home.
38. Quit crossing your eyes! They will get stuck that way!
39. Soak your foot in this pan of coal oil so that cut won't get infected.
40. When you take your driving test don't forget your hand signals each turn. Left arm straight out the window for a left turn, and left arm bent up to the sky at the elbow for a right turn and straight down to the side of the door when you are going to stop.
41. It is "Yes, sir!" and "No, sir" to me and your elders young man, and don't you forget it!
42. While we are at Aunt Mary's and Uncle John's you kids eat when the adults get through and I don't want to hear, "I don't like this stuff". You better keep your mouth shut and eat everything on your plate.
43. Well, that ought to keep us remembering some of the finer things of the past, some good and some not so good, and young man if I hear you repeat one word of this I will beat the daylights out of you, do you understand that?!!
Yep, too bad we can't have some of them back without going to jail.
Here's my 2 cents worth....."Child, did you forget that I have eyes in the back of my head!!!! That's how I knew!
Picture used with permission by Aida YaredA good Method:
Before beginning: ask the Holy Spirit to help you pray well, put yourself for a moment in the presence of God.
Before beginning a decade, pause for a moment or two - depending upon how much time you have - and contemplate the mystery that you are about to honor in that decade.
Always be sure to ask of Almighty God, by this mystery and through the intercession of the Blessed Mother, one of the virtues that shines forth most in this mystery or one of which you stand in particular need.
Take great care to ask for some special grace.
Ask God's help in cultivating one of the great Christian virtues or in overcoming one of your sins.
Avoid the pitfall a lot of people make when saying the Holy Rosary which, is to have no intention other than that of getting it over as quickly as possible!
It is really pathetic to see how most people say the Holy Rosary—they say it astonishingly fast and mumble so that the words are not properly pronounced at all. We could not possibly expect anyone, even the most unimportant person, to think that a slipshod address of this kind was a compliment and yet we expect Jesus and Mary to be pleased with it! Small wonder then that the most sacred prayers of our holy religion seem to bear no fruit, and that, after saying thousands of Rosaries, we are still no better than we were before!
I beg of you to temper the speed which comes all too easily to you and pause briefly several times as you say the Our Father and Hail Mary. I have placed a cross at each pause, as you will see:
Our Father Who art in Heaven, +
hallowed be Thy name, +
Thy kingdom come, +
Thy will be done +
on earth as it is in Heaven. +
Give us this day + our daily bread+
and forgive us our trespasses +
as we forgive those who trespass against us,+
and lead us not into temptation+
but deliver us from evil.
Amen.
Hail Mary, full of grace, +
the Lord is with thee, +
blessed art thou among women +
and blessed is the Fruit of thy womb, Jesus. +
Holy Mary, Mother of God, +
pray for us sinners, now+
and at the hour of our death.
Amen.
St. Louis de Monfort
"Peggy, With Love," a 30-minute special exploring the tenacity and artistry of painter Peggy Chun, will be shown at 5:30 p.m. Sept. 22 on KHNL-8.Honolulu Advertiser Article
Picture source: All Posters"Keep the joy of loving God in your heart and share this joy with all you meet especially your family. Be holy – let us pray."She was always one of my heroes. I don't have much to share about Mother Teresa today because it is all pretty personal and hard to put into words. I would like to share some links which I hope you enjoy reading as much as I did:
"Everybody today seems to be in such a terrible rush, anxious for greater developments and greater riches and so on, so that children have very little time for their parents. Parents have very little time for each other. And in the home, begins the disrupt of peace of the world".
"Love begins at home, and it is not how much we do... but how much love we put in that action".
"Love begins by taking care of the closest ones - the ones at home".
"The greatest destroyer of peace is abortion because if a mother can kill her own child, what is left for me to kill you and you to kill me? There is nothing between".
Aloha!
Hawaii Right to Life is looking for a few good men and women to staff our booth at the Hawaii Seniors Fair on September 21-23, 8:30 am to 4:30 pm. (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday)
We have divided the times into 2-hour shifts:
8:30 am - 10:30 am
10:30 am - 12:30 pm
12:30 pm - 2:30 pm
2:30 pm - 4:30 pm
I will be there to open up at 8:30 am and help close at 4:30 pm. Our new Executive Director, Bev Larranaga, will be there at various times to help out.
Please consider what times on Friday-Sunday you can help us out. It is not a hard job. Just smile a lot and nod at people going by. Some will stop to look at our handouts and may want to talk to you. Most of us know enough about the life issues to talk with them. For sure, you probably know more about the issues than the general public.
If you can help out any of the three days (or more than one shift), please give me a call at home (531-6737) or respond to this e-mail.
Many thanks for your help.
Carol White
Administrative Assistant
HRTL will reimburse volunteers if they park in the Blaisdell Center parking lot.
We now have the need for the following shifts:
Friday, Sept. 21: 8:30 am - 10:30 am / 10:30 am - 12:30 pm / 12:30 pm - 2:30 pm
Saturday, Sept. 22 & Sunday, Sept. 23: 8:30 am - 10:30 am / 10:30 am - 12:30 pm / 12:30 pm - 2:30 pm / 2:30 pm - 4:30 pm
If you can help us, call me at 531-6737 or respond to this e-mail.
I know it is a little early for some of you to be making plans, so please keep this e-mail in your in-box and consider helping out.,
A Celebration of Style and VirtueAs Marie wrote:
Teenagers also need help in accepting that they are beautiful no matter their size. On this site the models represent all sizes whether they be slim or curvaceous, mainly because their objective is to promote self esteem and to show that no matter what size you are, you can look fantastic.I wish they had helped teens when I was a teen. It is not only the overweight teens who may have self-esteem issues, it also happens to underweight teens as well.
Franz Jägerstätter wrote that he would gladly renounce the rights that came from belonging to the Third Reich in favor of deserving the rights granted by the kingdom of God.
He was killed in 1943 and will be beatified next month.
Dear Reader, Hello I'm that priest in the article. One huge misconception regarding Medjugorje is the question of obedience. Below is a letter from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith that clarifies the situation.
A LETTER FROM ROME ON MEDJUGORJE
For the 17th Anniversary of the apparitions, the Church just gave a beautiful gift to Our Lady! The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith sent the following letter to Bishop Gilbert Aubry of Saint Denis clarifying its position on Medjugorje. He received it on June 24th. On the 25th, he spread it to the priests and communities of his diocese (circular # C003) so that they can have the latest statement from Rome and, if necessary, inform the faithful with full knowledge of the facts.
________________________________________
CONGREGATIO
PRO DOCTRINA FIDEI
Pr. No 154/81-06419
Citta del Vaticano, Palazzo del S. Uffizio
May 26, 1998
To His Excellency Mons. Gilbert Aubry,
Bishop of Saint-Denis de la Reunion
Excellency:
In your letter of January 1, 1998, you submitted to this Dicastery several questions about the position of the Holy See and of the Bishop of Mostar in regard to the so called apparitions of Medjugorje, private pilgrimages and the pastoral care of the faithful who go there.
In regard to this matter, I think it is impossible to reply to each of the questions posed by Your Excellency. The main thing I would like to point out is that the Holy See does not ordinarily take a position of its own regarding supposed supernatural phenomena as a court of first instance.
As for the credibility of the "apparitions" in question, this Dicastery respects what was decided by the bishops of the former Yugoslavia in the Declaration of Zadar, April 10, 1991:
"On the basis of the investigations so far, it can not be affirmed that one is dealing with supernatural apparitions and revelations."
Since the division of Yugoslavia into different independent nations it would now pertain to the members of the Episcopal Conference of Bosnia-Hercegovina to eventually reopen the examination of this case, and to make any new pronouncements that might be called for.
What Bishop Peric said in his letter to the Secretary General of "Famille Chretienne", declaring: "My conviction and my position is not only 'non constat de supernaturalitate,' but likewise, 'constat de non supernaturalitate' of the apparitions or revelations in Medjugorje", should be considered the expression of the personal conviction of the Bishop of Mostar which he has the right to express as Ordinary of the place, but which is and remains his personal opinion.
Finally, as regards pilgrimages to Medjugorje, which are conducted privately, this Congregation points out that they are permitted on condition that they are not regarded as an authentification of events still taking place and which still call for an examination by the Church.
I hope that I have replied satisfactorily at least to the principal questions that you have presented to this Dicastery and I beg Your Excellency to accept the expression of my devoted sentiments.
Archbishop Tarcisio Bertone
(Secretary to the "Congregatio", presided over by Cardinal Ratzinger)
________________________________________
Fr. Daniel-Ange (France) summerizes this way:
1 -The declarations of the Bishop of Mostar only reflect his personal opinion. Consequently, they are not an official and definitive judgement from the Church.
2 - One is directed to the declaration of Zadar, which leaves the door open to future investigations. In the meanwhile private pilgrimages with pastoral accompaniment for the faithful are permitted.
3 - A new commission could eventually be named. *("It was in July 2006" - Fr Grace)
4 - In the meanwhile, all Catholics may go as pilgrims to Medjugorje.
Further to this there have been numerous statements issued from the Vatican that emphasize the above points, particularly the freedom one has in going to Medjugorje. Let us remember that it took thirteen years after the apparitions ceased at Fatima before it received full approval. Have you heard of the apparitions of Akita, Japan? They have been approved by the Church and are virtually unknown. Satan loves it when Our Lady's messages are ignored or ridiculed. Why because they bring about so many conversions.
To the critics of Medjugorje, I plead with you to think very carefully about the fact that you could well be a pawn the Evil One is using to stop more conversions. I'm so glad I came across the message from the Queen of Peace at Medjugorje otherwise I'd still be walking in spiritual darkness.
Now as a priest I implement them into my life and ministry:
1) Loving the Word of God.
2) Praying with the Heart, especially the Rosary.
3) Loving the Holy Mass and the Blessed Sacrament.
4) Regular Confession.
5) Fasting and Penance.
This is the essence of Medjugorje and this is the essence of Gospel and the authentic teaching of the Magisterium of the Church.
Peace be with you.
God Bless,
Fr Grace.
Picture courtesy of All PostersWhen a girl ceases to blush, she has lost the most powerful charm of her beauty....St. Pope Gregory the Great
Picture courtesy of All Posters
Pontiff to Youth: See You in Sydney- ARTICLE
LORETO, Italy, SEPT. 2, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI invited half a million young people to go against the current in a world seduced by violence, despotism and "success at all costs."
Entrusts Australia Meeting to Mary184,800 Registered for World Youth Day- ARTICLE
LORETO, Italy, SEPT. 2, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI twice reminded youth of his next appointment with them: World Youth Day 2008 in Sydney, Australia.
SYDNEY, Australia, SEPT. 2, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Surpassing expectations, 184,800 pilgrims have already registered for World Youth Day.
Meatballs, IKEA, and Abortion. These are the great contributions of Sweden to the modern world. I, unlike Sweden, am in favor of a persons right to choose. I am personally opposed to IKEA furniture but I respect an individuals right to purchase the ugly furnishings. Sweden is not so liberal.
1. He is really there!
"I myself Am the Living Bread come down from Heaven." (Jn 6:35)
2. Day and night Jesus dwells in the Blessed Sacrament because of his Infinite love for you!
"Behold I will be with you always even to the end of the world," because "I have loved you with an everlasting love, and constant is My affection for you." (Mt 28:20; Jer 31:3)
3. The specific way that Jesus asks you to love Him in return is to spend one quiet hour with Him in the Blessed Sacrament.
"Where your treasure is, there is your heart...." "Could you not watch one hour with Me?" (Mt 6:21; 26:40)
4. When you look upon the Sacred Host, you look upon Jesus, the Son of God.
"Indeed, this is the will of My Father, that everyone who looks upon the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life. Him I will raise up on the last day." (Jn 6:40)
5. Each moment that you spend in His Eucharistic Presence will increase His Divine Life within you and deepen your personal relationship and friendship with Him.
"I have come that you may have life, and have it more abundantly." "I am the Vine and you are the branches. Whoever remains in Me and I in Him shall bear much fruit because without Me, you can do nothing." (Jn 15:5)
6. Each hour you spend with Jesus will deepen His Divine Peace in your heart.
"Come to Me all of you who are weary and find life burdensome and I will refresh you..." "Cast all of you anxieties upon the One who cares for you..." "My Peace is My Gift to you." (Mt 11:28; 5:7; Jn 14:17)
7. Jesus will give you all the Graces you need to be happy!
"The Lamb on the Throne will shepherd them. He will lead them to the springs of life-giving water." (Rev 7:17)
8. Jesus is infinitely deserving of our unceasing thanksgiving and adoration for all He has done for our salvation.
"Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive honor, glory and praise." (Rev. 5:12)
9. For Peace in our country!
"When My people humble themselves and seek My Presence... I will revive their land." (2Chr 7:14)
10. Each hour you spend with Jesus on earth will leave your soul everlastingly more beautiful and glorious in heaven!
"They who humble themselves shall be exalted...." "All of us, gazing on the Lord’s glory with unveiled faces, are being transformed from glory to glory into His very image." (Lk 18:14; 2Cor 3:18)
11. Jesus will bless you, your family and the whole world for this hour of faith you spend with Him in the Blessed Sacrament.
"Blessed are they who do not see and yet believe..." "Faith can move mountains..." " What is needed is trust... " "Behold I come to make all things new." (Jn 20:29; Mk 11:23; Mk 5:36; Rev 21:5)
12. Each moment you spend with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament brings joy, pleasure, and delight to His Sacred Heart!
"My joy, My pleasure, My delight is to be with you." (Prov 8:31)
