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Did You Find It?

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Excerpt from a recent conversation I had with a priest friend as we discussed my frustrations with God and His inability to answer my prayers in the way I saw fit. “Did you find it?” he said to me. “What?” I responded. “The box where you put God.” “What?” He repeated, “The box where you put God until He answered your prayers as you see fit.” “I didn’t do that!” “Yes, you did. You are limiting Him by insisting that your way is the only way. You forget, He keeps this universe running. He keeps your heart beating. He makes your cells divide and, each day, He keeps you from floating off the face of the planet through gravity. You put Him in a box by insisting that your way is His Way, when He knows far better than you do what needs to be done with your prayers of petition” It’s rare, but, I had words. Read More at Prayerfully Yours

As the Morning Rising: Christ the King Poems

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Christ The King We are heralds of the eternal king All of us united in Him. All in heaven and on earth is singing For this is ... continue reading at  As the Morning Rising: Christ the King Poems : 

The Examen at Eucharistic Adoration Todat

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The images of Jesus slide into my mind, the writhing, twisting, agonizing look of pain on Our Savior’s beaten, Holy Face. Tears and sweat pour down from His eyes, and His labored breathing, which becomes more shallow with each painful gulp, reflects His silent pain. The precious blood pours down from His crown of thorns, burning His eyes, blinding His sight. Even blinking is laborious and painful. Yet, He looks at me with a heart burning with love and prayers that His graces will not be rejected by me. I cannot feel Your pain, Sweet Jesus, and I am grateful for that. I am grateful that You chose to drink of the cup Your Father had prepared for You, a painful cup, a never ending cup, a cup so deep that only the Son of the living God could drink. I am grateful that you accepted this cup, and I watch in sorrow as Your Precious Blood flows down the gaping, open wounds on Your Body causing You to writhe in a burning pain for souls, that even the love of Your Mothe

My Badass Review - Inspirations to Dream

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The cover image (see above) of this blog post, pretty much sums up how I felt reading, Maria Morera Johnson's new book,  My Badass Book of Saints .  There were many reasons for such jubilation - the amazing courageous women she introduced me to, the profound spiritual lessons I took away from not only the women she featured but her own incredible story weaved into the pages as well.  Selfishly what fired me up most about My Badass Book of Saints    was the writing instruction and encouragement.   That's great for you Allison but how on earth (if you are not inspiring to complete your first novel) will this review help me decided if to get my own copy or not?  Good point - let me address that before moving on.  Maria highlights so many different fantabulous, inspiring women -- you are bound to find one that connects with where you are right now or where you want to be.  Missionaries, peacemakers, reformers - saints and should be saints - each woman bravely followed God's

Europe’s Complex Heritage

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I stopped using the term " Caucasian " several years ago. I've discussed the "Anglo-Teutonic" race, Neanderthals, and getting a grip, before. ( September 25, 2015 ; October 31, 2014 ) Turns out, folks from the Caucasus moved into Europe at least once — along with many other folks.... We're still learning about humanity's family history. It's a lot more complicated than we thought.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Our Advent Book List

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One of our family's favorite Advent traditions is the Advent Book Basket.  Each year I wrap both religious and secular read-alouds in purple and pink paper and we unwrap and read one book per day between December 1 and Christmas Eve. Click here to see our book list for this Advent!   What about you - what are your favorite Advent and Christmas books?

Will They Know Us By Our Love?

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Over the last few weeks since Pope Francis’ departure, there has been a noticeable divisiveness within the world of Catholic social media. From Ross Douthat’s letter of critique of Pope Francis in the New York Times, to the response of theologians, priests, and Douthat again- we see firsthand a visible polarization. Yet, disagreement and dialogue in and of itself should not be disturbing. For, as Cardinal Dolan has so aptly noted of the most recent synod , “ [for] Francis, and those who know better tell me so, that this is part of Ignatian spirituality: a mess, confusion, questions are a good thing.” What is personally disconcerting, however, is the manner in which our discourse is taking place.  Repeatedly, I am seeing a promulgation of an article, or op-ed piece posted on social media in which the dialogue takes on a very ugly, often misinformed and even discriminatory tone having left the realm of discussion altogether. Read More..

'My kingdom is not from this world.' Sunday Reflections. Christ the King, Year B

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From The Gospel of John (2003) Directed by Philip Saville. Gospel John 18:33B-37 (NRSV, CatholicEdition, Can.) Christ Before Pilate , Tintoretto, 1566-67 Pilate said to Jesus: “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?” Pilate replied, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?” Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.” Pilate asked him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice. Last Saturday Pope Francis referred to the attacks in Paris the night before as 'piece' of the 'Piecemeal Third World War'. In

As the Morning Rising: The Pleiades and Orion

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When I first enter the chapel on any one of these November mornings there is a definite absence of light... continue reading  As the Morning Rising: The Pleiades and Orion:  http://holy-familyparish.com/ 

Home to Me

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It took me well over four decades of life to realize that the bonds of love that exist in so many of our homes exist long after those homes are gone.  Read my reflections on life, death and the family home here....     

Faith + Humour = 36 Years of Marriage

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My husband, Michael, and I have been married for 36 years, and we are happy and still in love. Surprisingly, we have become one in reality, deeply in tune with each other’s spirits even though we are still opposites in personality. Our tangible joy is inexplicable through secular eyes, because from all outward appearances our life together has been a tough journey including poverty, nine kids, overwhelming chores on a small family farm and long-term, clinical depression. Accessing Power in the Sacrament of Marriage The grace available in the Sacrament of Marriage is not some esoteric theology;  it is real and it is powerful. The power available in the sacrament is what kept my husband and I together through the rough years. We both understood, beyond a doubt, that God brought us together. We never questioned this basic call from God, our vocation together, even during the dark years. I have always managed to keep our difficulties in perspective through humour.  One of my jo

Mercy is Falling - The Maria Goretti Story

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She was the youngest saint, having died in 1902, at only 11 years old. What was it that such a young saint accomplished in such a short lifetime, worthy of elevating her among the saints, forever known to us as “ The little saint of great mercy ”? How could her transformative prayers for the sinful heart of her murderer, bring him also to great holiness, even after her death? And how did Maria’s example of mercy save the souls of both her murderer and her mother, as well as many who have sought her holy intercession? I was one of those sinners who needed Maria’s intercession to be truly saved. During my High School years, I had fallen into such darkness, that I could have been lost to God forever. As I began to seek the face of the Lord through RCIA, I prayed for a saint to find me. A saint to mentor me along the great journey and guide me out of this darkness. A saint who could help me in the areas of virtue that I struggled most severely. For this I prayed. Continue Reading at

When Life is Overwhelming...

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Do you feel the sadness around you? Do you sense the fear and anxiety in the air? Maybe you’re full of sadness, fear, and/or anxiety? Life can be difficult these days. The news doesn’t help. I think almost everyone is feeling stressed and anxious now. Our safe world died with 9/11. Then, I think of my dog, Pixie. She likes to sleep. I have noticed that when things are stressful for her she retreats to her couch, and she sleeps. Being a creature made by God, but lacking an immortal soul, Pixie can only do God’s Will. She was infused with the knowledge of what to do and how to live her life. When my daughter’s kitties make her life miserable, Pixie goes to sleep. That is how she retreats and survives. Read More at Prayerfully Yours

Association Of Catholic Women Bloggers: #WorthRevisit - Sharing Favorite OLD Posts

Association Of Catholic Women Bloggers: #WorthRevisit - Sharing Favorite OLD Posts
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Advent now comes and goes nearly unnoticed. The only thing worth of recognition between Halloween and Christmas is Thanksgiving, and even that has started to take a back seat as major stores start “decking the halls” and major TV stations start putting on Christmas movies in late October and early November. Advent, a delightful period of quiet waiting and anticipation for the coming of the child Jesus passes by largely forgotten. My husband is a Maronite Catholic. Any of you familiar with Eastern Catholicism may have heard that the Eastern Catholic rites follow a different liturgical calendar. Most major feasts, like Christmas and Easter, fall on the same dates, thereby emphasizing the unity of the Church, but other feasts and the general cycle of the liturgical seasons differs. Since we’re a mixed family (I’m Roman Catholic), I like to joke that we can opt for the longer Advent (Maronite calendar) and shorter Lent (Roman Catholic calendar). In all seriousness, though, I deeply

My Secret Name

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I think of God as having a name for me that takes hours to say. Somehow, the ‘whole me’ will be included in that name, and it won’t be complete until my life is complete.  My current name is like a symbol of this fully-known and fully-uttered ‘me,’ who has being within Him. At the moment during Mass when we pray, “only say the word, and my soul shall be healed,” I sense Him speaking this one word: my name. I ‘hear,’ “Charlotte,” but my heart hears that whole name, spoken from outside time into the moment of two small syllables. Each time, I hear my Self spoken back into being, healed, renewed, called forth to be me. What could better prepare me to receive Him than this Love, whose voice continuously upholds my being?? I love this moment! Sometimes, when I need that love to renew the face of my being, I just ask, “Lord, will you just say my name, please,” and He does. CharlotteOstermann.com

Compassion Has No Shut-Off Valve

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Compassion is not seasonal! Compassion seems popular this time of year. We tend to share our abundance with those less fortunate in the form of donations to shelters and food banks. Why is it that we only tend to take this action predominantly in November and December? People are hungry and homeless all year round. I don’t have a definitive answer for this question, but I think it has something to do with processing tax deductions. Perhaps I’m being a bit cynical. However, I think we need to... Read more...

When Your Time is Up...

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Did you ever feel God was speaking to you, that the coincidence that just happened was just too. . . well, too coincidental to be coincidence? Could Sunday's Gospel have been a coincidence? Could those who chose our  Sunday Mass readings  years ago have known what the Western world would be feeling in the days after Friday the 13 th  of November 2015? Or could God have planned the Gospel knowing we’d read it while still reeling from the worst attacks on the French since WWII? Could He have planned that reading for a time when we might be more attentive to our own vulnerability specifically to remind us to prepare for our own end? It can be hard to believe in God’s plan when the world is so full of hate and anger, betrayal and pain, but maybe Sunday's Gospel reading from the  Book of Mark  was planned for that day to remind all of us that we never know when our time is up. We expect tomorrow to come, perhaps decades down the road, but it will come somed

Give a Fig and Care

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This week I heard two homilies in a row in which a priest mentioned a fig tree. That was the inspiration for this blog. I like Fig Newtons but never ate an “undried” fig until Sister Regina Alfonso brought some home from Tennessee. In Scripture fig trees are a sign of peace and prosperity. Our expression “I don’t give a fig” stems from the fact that fig trees were abundant. It means “I don’t care.” Caring is important, something that human beings do. When one of my nephews had the habit of saying, “Who cares?” my sister fined him a quarter each time he said it. These days people all over the world are caring about those who were affected by the horrendous events in Paris. We sympathize with their suffering and sorrow. The three colors of the French flag are cropping up all over, an attempt at “comforting the sorrowful.” Click to continue

But Did You Love Me?

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Via Vimeo I have no preamble to this wonderfully simple, yet extremely powerful and very moving video message.  You may find it here .   P.S. - Have you visited petersboat.net yet? Wishing you and yours the very best -  Sabrina 

Day Three of Rain and the Examen

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Today is the third day in a row of rain. Some of the rain has been a beautiful mist, but some of the rain has been heavy and dense. As I stand and look out at the scenery, I can feel God settling into the corners of my heart. He is filling my heart with His beauty and strength. His love expands my heart as I see the rain that plunks on the ground. I breathe to the rhythm of the rain. Each beat of my heart beats to the meter of His Sacred Heart. Read More at:  Prayerfully Yours

Attacks in Paris: People Matter

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(From BBC News, used w/o permission.) (" The names of victims have started to emerge. Top left to right: Nohemi Gonzalez, Marie Mosser, Djamila Houd. Middle left to right: Juan Alberto Gonzalez, Guillaume Decherf, Nick Alexander. Bottom left to right: Mathieu Hoche, Thomas Ayed, Valentin Ribet " (BBC News)).... ...Another article tells about efforts to find folks who are still missing: either dead, or hospitalized and not able to say who they are. I'll get back to that.... ...A few names from that BBC News article — "Dado," the nickname of a man killed at the Bataclan. Hugo Sarrade, Cedric Mauduit, Mathieu Hoche, Quentin Boulanger, Guillaume B Decherf, Marie Lausch, Mathias Dymarski, and Lola Salines, had been at the Bataclan, too. No pressure, and this is just a suggestion: but praying for everyone involved couldn't hurt.... More, at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Whispers in the Pew, Part 2

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When my son Paul was a toddler, his favorite book was “The Pig in the Pond.” It’s one of those books where each page complicates the plot by adding a farm animal and, of course, the sound it makes. The first time I read the book aloud, I mimicked the animal sounds with gusto and enhanced the experience by shouting and jumping at the appropriate times. Paul was hooked, and I was doomed: from then on—no matter how exhausted I was or how many times I had read the book that evening—that story required hugely energetic noises and movements. The way we share stories matters. At every Mass, we share our story. The Liturgy of the Word invites us into Jewish Scripture, the Psalms, the letters of the apostles, and the Gospel. Every Sunday reminds us of our universal human story: we are created tenderly by God, but we are not God. Because we tend to sin, God lovingly sent his Son into the world to accompany us, teach us, suffer for us and save us. This is our story. And the way we sh

Inviting Christ to Be King of Our Hearts

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The events of the past week have led many of us to ask: What is the solution to mankind’s woes? It remains the same as it was in 1925 when Pope Pius XI instituted the Solemnity of Christ the King, which we celebrate this Sunday. Only a radical conversion and acknowledgement of Jesus Christ as King of the universe will solve the world’s problems. How does this conversion happen? It happens one soul at a time, deep in the hearts of each individual person. Read Inviting Christ to be King of our Hearts here...

A DOORWAY INTO OUR SOULS: PRAYING WITH TERESA OF AVILA PART IV

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What is it to experience a mystical union with God and is this only reserved for a select few? No, as Teresa would be the first to point out, this unity and grace is available to each of us as fruits of our baptism. Yet, do we have the temperament and conditioning to sit and be still with God? Are there also external expressions to our spiritual union with God's love to meet the challenges we see in the world today? Led onward to the centermost dwelling place of the soul, Teresa describes a space filled with a “cloud of majestic splendor” and a beholding vision of the Trinity. [1]  No longer are our senses suspended, and we come to understand “a most profound truth…that what we hold by faith, it understands, we can say, through sight”. [2]   Read More..

The Gift

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“…all good giving and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no alteration or shadow caused by change.” James 1:17 The day was cold. Her little hands were blue from the cold. She tried to keep her hands warm as she tried to keep up with her Mom. Her Mom had told her that they were going to be nice and warm tonight. They were getting to the shelter early. Hannah would have a full tummy tonight and a nice warm bed. Hannah trusted her mom. It would be nice to be full and warm. Read more at Prayerfully Yours

Children Learn From Your Example

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Children Copy Us Children mirror what they learn from adults and older siblings in their lives. So, just what is it that you are teaching the children in your life? Are you teaching them, by your example, how to grow in virtue? Or, are you teaching them the very things that you don’t want them to become? In essence, do you practice what you preach?  Or, is it more of a “Do as I say, not as I do” mentality around your house? On my blog, I write about the virtues for adults, to benefit not only the adults, but the lives of children. My blog teaches you as an adult, how to embrace and practice virtue; so that you can be good role models for the children in your lives. If, as adults, we do not embrace and practice virtue, then how can we expect our children to grow in virtue? Read more...

Creating Positive Pro- Life Memes

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There is a place for shock tactics in the battle to save our unborn children. because modern man often glibly, glosses over the atrocity of abortion. Yet our society is bombarded by grotesque images of war, starvation and torture; it is almost immune to the  most horrific scenes flashing across the media. Sometimes humour, warmth and humanity gets the point across. With this thought in my mind, I have created a few pro-life memes which centre on the power of prayer and the love of Mary our mother for the unborn. rather than horror. Let us celebrate the miracle of life and birth. continue reading

Using Your Angelic Legion Effectively

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Q.  "Are there Legions of Angels?"  Yes, there are Legions of Angels.  Jesus spoke of twelve Legions of Angels that were available to Him. And behold, one of those who accompanied Jesus put his hand to his sword, drew it, and struck the high priest’s servant, cutting off his ear.  Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its sheath, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.  Do you think that I cannot call upon my Father and he will not provide me at this moment with more than twelve legions of angels? (Matthew 26:52-53) But never forget, the Demon has also Legions also.   Remember when Jesus went to exorcise the man of the demon that dwelt among the tombs that could not be contained with a chain? TO READ MORE....CLICK HERE!!  

From Light to Darkness

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Prayer and my Personal Journey It took more than twenty years after leaving school years before I  discovered that I was a dyslexic, thanks to a chance meeting with a doctor who knew something about what she called ‘my gift’. It was a tremendous relief to meet someone at long last who understood what nobody had been able to understand before, and that included me. At school my teachers subscribed to one of two theories – either ‘ That boy is stupid!’  or ‘ That boy is lazy ’. For myself I didn’t know what to think. All I knew was that I wasn’t stupid; I knew I had a good mind even if it didn’t easily conform to traditional teaching methods devised for the majority and the examinations set to validate them. When my form master wrote on my school report,  ‘You could scourge this boy and he wouldn’t work’ , I just had to accept that what he said was true. Funnily enough, when in later life I had managed to master most of the other deadly sins, I found that despite what I had been force

In the Inner Cloister of Her Heart

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From The Cloistered Heart

Paris, Evil, and Love

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(From Anne Sophie Chaisemartin/AP, via New York Daily News, used w/o permission.) (" Victims of a shooting attack lay on the pavement outside La Belle Equipe restaurant in Paris Friday, Nov. 13, 2015. Well over 100 people were killed in Paris on Friday night in a series of shooting, explosions. " (New York Daily News)) I've read that Friday's attacks in Paris are the fault of right-wing hate-mongers, that America's president is to blame — — — and the American election is still nearly a year off. I am not looking forward to the usual self-serving balderdash.... ...I am pretty sure that Muslims who blame France, America, and Western civilization for their problems are sincere, too. But the grand imam of Al-Azhar called Friday's attack "odious," Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb said it was "heinous," and Saudi King Salman called it "repugnant." 1 ... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .