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Showing posts from March, 2012
Dear St Joseph, please present our prayers to God.  For Andrew For a return to the Faith of lapsed family members for healing of a family rift for a sufferer from alcoholism and their loved ones Trusting in the Holy and Undivided Trinity Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Thy Will Be Done O God, Amen

BBC News - London 2012: How do the Olympics handle religion?

BBC News - London 2012: How do the Olympics handle religion?

'Your king is coming . . .' Sunday Reflections, Palm Sunday Year B

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From The Gospel of John (2003). Directed by Philip Saville. Jesus played by Henry Ian Cusick; narrator, Christopher Plummer. Readings   (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) At the Procession of Palms either of these gospels may be used: Mark 11:1-10 or John 12:12-16. Gospel for Procession of Palms Mark 11:1-10 (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa) When they were approaching Jerusalem, in sight of Bethphage and Bethany, close by the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples and said to them, 'Go off to the village facing you, and as soon as you enter it you will find a tethered colt that no one has yet ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone says to you, "What are you doing?" say, "The Master needs it and will send it back here directly." They went off and found a colt tethered near a door in the open street. As they untied it, some men standing ther

Snorkel Porkchops

  Today we were talking about names and how, if one of our children became a nun they would take on a new name, or if baby brother became a priest he would be Fr. (insert last name here). I left the room and the Queen came up and said, "We want to know why the woman has to take the man's last name when they get married." "Um, that's a hard one." She left to announce my response as I said a quick prayer, "Come on Lord! help me out here!" Then it hit me. I walked back in the kitchen and took a deep breath. Read more...

Prayer intentions

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Dear St Joseph, please present our prayers to God.  For Andrew in hospital that the operation goes well For a return to the Faith of lapsed family members for safe delivery of a baby for healing of a family rift for a sufferer from alcoholism and their loved ones Trusting in the Holy and Undivided Trinity Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Thy Will Be Done O God, Amen

My Dad's 99th birth anniversary

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My ordination day, 20 December 1967, with Dad, Mam and my brother Paddy.  My late Dad, John Coyle, was born 99 years ago today - or possibly yesterday. He was never quite sure whether his birthday was the 26th or 27th but finally opted for the latter. He is still the biggest influence in my life because of the quiet way he lived his deep faith as a husband, father, neighbour, carpenter and general foreman for many years on building sites. One of his strongest characteristics was his respect for others. He went to Mass every day, including the day he died suddenly, 11 August 1987.  Dad also influenced my taste in popular music. He loved a good tune. Sometimes he would 'doodle' on the piano but couldn't play it. One of his great favourites was Charlie Kunz, in the video above, an American-born bandleader and pianist who settled in England. He would sometimes tell me about the time he saw Charlie perform in the old Theatre Royal in Dublin before World War II. He and m
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Dear St Joseph,  please present our prayers to God. For a return to the Faith of lapsed family members for safe delivery of a baby for  healing of a family rift Trusting in the Holy and Undivided Trinity Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Thy Will Be Done O God, Amen  

Lean your head on Mary's heart: Mary was necessary to God in the Incarnation of th...

Lean your head on Mary's heart: Mary was necessary to God in the Incarnation of th... : Some words to ponder on the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord: It was through Mary that God the Father gave His Only-begotten to t...

'Let it be to me according to your word'. The Annunciation.

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The Annunciation , Caravaggio , painted 1608-09 Luke 1:26-38 (Revised Standard Version - Catholic Edition) In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said, "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!" But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and considered in her mind what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there will be no end." And Mary said to the angel, "How shall this be, since I have no husband?&q

Prayer Intentions for 24/03/2012

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Of Your Charity Please Pray for:- Mothers to be and their unborn children   please pray that Catherine and Andy and Rachel and John return to the practice of their Catholic faith those afected by Dementia and Alzheimers and their families and carers Nick, that he return safely from duty in Afghanistan. Dear St Joseph, please present our prayers to God. Trusting in the Holy and Undivided Trinity Father, Son and Holy Spirit.    

'When I am lifted up from the earth . . .' Sunday Reflections for 5th Sunday of Lent Year B

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From The Gospel of John (2003) Jesus Predicts His Death (12:20-36) Directed by Philip Saville. Jesus played by Henry Ian Cusick; narrator, Christopher Plummer. Readings    (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) Gospel John 12:20-33 (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa) Among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. These approached Philip, who came from Bethsaida in Galilee, and put this request to him, 'Sir, we should like to see Jesus.' Philip went to tell Andrew, and Andrew and Philip together went to tell Jesus. Jesus replied to them: 'Now the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. I tell you, most solemnly, unless a wheat grain falls on the ground and dies, it remains only a single grain; but if it dies, it yields a rich harvest. Anyone who loves his life loses it; anyone who hates his life in this world will keep it for the eternal life. If a

Prayer Intentions

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Of Your Charity Please Pray for:-   Mothers to be and their unborn children  those afected by Dementia and Alzheimers and their families and carers Nick, that he return safely from duty in Afghanistan. Dear St Joseph,  please present our prayers to God. Trusting in the Holy and Undivided Trinity Father, Son and Holy Spirit.     Thy Will Be Done O God, Amen       if you wish your intention to be added email   m.bankswilkinson@btinternet.com    

ACWB Prayer intentions

Of Your Charity Please Pray for:- For those afected by Dementia and Alzheimers and their families and carers Nick, that he return safely from duty in Afghanistan. Dear St Joseph, please present our prayers to God. Trusting in the Holy and Undivided Trinity Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Thy Will Be Done O God, Amen

Fishing for the Words

My dad has Alzheimer's. We don't talk about it much if for no reason other than, it hurts. He is still Dad. He will always be Dad; but the shell of him is being slowly stripped away. Word loss creep first led to fewer letters. I've saved them all. When he visits, we get to eat together, to share the chaos that is my life and laugh a bit, sometimes it overwhelms him --which is reasonable; they overwhelm me sometimes too. Alzheimer's is brutal and it's ongoing and it makes my heart howl sometimes when I know he's fishing for the next word, the next thought and they all get away. When my grandmother had it, I remember I did what I could to joke it away whenever possible, and I could usually make her laugh. "You always get to go new places. You always meet new people. You can claim you met anyone you want to and impress because we'll never be certain and neither will you." We had a good laugh about that as I helped her get her "doll face&quo

To Tweet or Not to Tweet?

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For those of you grumbling and threatening to click over to another blogpost or website, hang on a second. I have given this a lot of thought. The last thing I need is one more item added to my to-do-list. However, contemplating how I could best document and communicate my experiences while I’m attending the Religious Education Congress , to "tweet" became the answer. So, I’m officially tweeting from @LSCatholicblog and let me tell you the 140 characters limit is a challenge! My last writing instructor tried to break me of my proclivity toward wordiness, but I fear she was unsuccessful in her effort. Shrinking my tweets and not coming off as a dunderhead is quite a talent—not to mention picking 140 characters for which someone gives a hoot. Yes, tweeting is also valuable for telling the world about the nagging hole in your dish gloves or your job as an Actuarial Scientist Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz… . Believe it or not, it can go deeper. I’ve accessed some pretty darn good material v

View from the Domestic Church: "Pathways of Faith" today at noon Eastern!

View from the Domestic Church: "Pathways of Faith" today at noon Eastern!

Prayer Intentions offered with the intecession of St Joseph

Of Your Charity Please Pray for:- Nick, that he return safely from duty in Afghanistan. Dear St Joseph, please present our prayers to God. Trusting in the Holy and Undivided Trinity Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Thy Will Be Done O God, Amen

Day of Prayer for Dementia

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 Lord, thank you for your presence this moment, holding us in your love. Help us to share your love with those who live among us with dementia,  that we may see your beauty in them. Amen . Pastoral Care Project , located in the Archdiocese of Birmingham, England, whose mission is To raise awareness to the spiritual needs of the frail elderly - enabling carers to support them in their journey to the fullness of life has once again organised a Day of Prayer for Dementia . Indeed, somewhat like World Youth Day, it was much more than a day of prayer but more than a week of prayer with special Masses and Prayer Events/Services being held in a number of English dioceses starting on 11 March and ending yesterday, the Solemnity of St Joseph. Frances Molloy, the Project Manager and founder, originally from Rathlin Island, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, describes how Pastoral Care Promect came about: In 1989, I was leading a Spiritual Development programme (Light Out of Darkness writte

Prayers

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Dear friends, Jackie and I have been considering a prayer sharing element so that we can offer prayers for each others needs. I'm not very good technically so the new side bar gadget is the best I could devise , if anyone can find a widget or gadget that would allow us to add our petitions to a roll below the picture please give it a try! This Blogg is a co-operative of equals and our only rule is Caritas. Jackie suggested I give my email for you to send special intentions too and I will then add a daily summary for us all to use as a guide. I'm more than happy to do so . so email m.bankswilkinson@btinternet.com with your specific intentions, but we can all pray for each other anyway. I'm exploring the idea of writing and having approved a specific prayer so any ideas for that would be gratefully received St Joseph seemed an ideal choice as intercessor but if anyone has other ideas please let me know. So I now give you our first intentions list, Of Your Charity Pl

Like the Sound of a Great Amen

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"Exult, you just, in the Lord ... sing to Him a new song; pluck the strings skillfully, with shouts of gladness.."  (Psalm 33:1 & 3)   I read this scripture with a sigh.  Loving to sing, I can't carry a tune in the proverbial bucket. Although I savor the sounds of harpsichords and pianos and cellos and harps, I myself am no plucker of strings.  Even with no musical talent, however, I find singing to be a path into prayer.  I like to pray with psalms, using the words as a springboard to my own conversations with God.  "I will extol you." I read in Psalm 145... and so I do.  I begin to thank Him for His goodness and kindness and mercy (this can go on for some time before I turn again to what I'm reading).  And when I feel pretty sure no one is within hearing distance, I just might burst into song.  Sometimes using a tune I know, sometimes making up my own, I sing to God of His wonders.  I set thanksgivings and praises to music; I may even

About Me, a Brief Introduction

I am a new contributor to The Association of Catholic Women blog.  Jackie asked that I introduce myself. It might be better if someone who knows me well did the honors.  I can’t be very objective, but I’ll try.  My name is Ruth Ann (Keller) Pilney.  I am a native of Chicago, Illinois, where I was born and raised.  My heart lives in Chicago!  Currently I live in California with my husband Jim, who retired two weeks ago, from his work in manufacturing of pharmaceuticals.  The two of us will have been married 33 years in June.  Our daughter, Catherine is married to Andrés (Andy). In 2008 I retired.  Now I enjoy the freedom that retirement brings.  Among other things, it gives me time to write, read and study.  Writing is something I like to do, and I do it often.  However I don’t write professionally, and never have.  Instead, I write letters, emails, and journals---and essays for my blog.  In school I did scholarly writing, and I liked that.  I ventured into blogging abo

To do or to be, that is the question

Am I what I do, or who I am? Please click through to read our latest post at The Feminine Gift.

St. Patrick's Breast-Plate: A prayer

I bind to myself today The strong virtue of the Invocation of the Trinity : I believe the Trinity in the Unity The Creator of the Universe. I bind to myself today The virtue of the Incarnation of Christ with His Baptism , The virtue of His crucifixion with His burial , The virtue of His Resurrection with His Ascension , The virtue of His coming on the Judgement Day. I bind to myself today The virtue of the love of seraphim , In the obedience of angels , In the hope of resurrection unto reward , In prayers of Patriarchs , In predictions of Prophets , In preaching of Apostles , In faith of Confessors , In purity of holy Virgins , In deeds of righteous men. I bind to myself today The power of Heaven , The light of the sun, The brightness of the moon, The splendour of fire, The flashing of lightning, The swiftness of wind, The depth of sea, The stability of earth, The compactness of rocks. I bind to myself today God's Power to guide

Fiftysomething: Dydd Sant Padraig hapus I gyd o'n ffrindiau a teul...

Fiftysomething: Dydd Sant Padraig hapus I gyd o'n ffrindiau a teul... : Dydd Sant Padraig hapus I gyd o'n ffrindiau a teulu Gwyddelig! Happy St Patrick's Day to all my Irish friends,  Lá Fhéile Pádraig Sona Duit...

'Yes, God loved the world so much . . .' Sunday Reflections, Fourth Sunday of Lent Year B

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From The Gospel of John (2003).  Directed by Philip Saville. Jesus played by Henry Ian Cusick; narrator: Christopher Plummer . Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) Gospel John 3:14-21 (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa) Jesus said to Nicodemus: 'The Son of Man must be lifted up as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him. Yes, God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not be lost but may have eternal life. For God sent his Son into the world not to condemn the world, but so that through him the world might be saved. No one who believes in him will be condemned; but whoever refuses to believe is condemned already, because he has refused to believe in the name of God's only Son. On these grounds is sentence pronounced: that though the light has co