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He said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer." Why. Why did He desire it, and for how long? He is God, how long can God desire one Passover? I'll tell you how long, since the fall of Adam and Eve. Before there was a Passover, God desired this one. Why this one? Because it is a sacrifice offered that would NEVER be rejected by God... TO READ MORE...CLICK HERE!

Kepler spotted its first planet since mission planners found a new way to hold the robot observatory steady, earlier this year. Scientists at the Nordic Optical Telescope didn't discover 55 Cancri e: but they're the first to observe the super-Earth from Earth's surface. The planet is too hot for life: but 55 Cancri f is another matter. I'll get back to that. Other scientists are fine-tuning how we can search for life in the universe.... ...Before getting to 55 Cancri e and the search for life in the universe, I'll be rambling on about billions of planets, Genesis, and the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram. Feel free to skip ahead to Planet-Spotting: Nordic Optical Telescope's 'First.' Or take a coffee break, go for a walk: whatever you feel like.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

(From John Martin, via Wikimedia Commons, used w/o permission.) (Detail from John Martin's "The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah." (1852)) By some standards, this isn't a particularly "Christian" blog. I don't rant about the unending fires of Hell, or dwell on cheerful thoughts like this: " ...The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider or some loathsome insect over the fire, abhors you.... " ( Sinners in the Hand of an Angry God ," Jonathan Edwards (1741)) That's because it's not 1741 any more, and I'm Catholic. I've talked about the Great Awakening, Jonathan Edwards, and Mark Twain, before. ( December 1, 2013 ) As a Christian, I agree with Simon Peter.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

I know you're there, waiting for me.  So, how's heaven, really?  Are the angels always flying around or do they stop and talk with you?  Do they walk with you?  Do you have a home where you live, or do you travel all over heaven walking with the angels or Our Loving Lord?     I have a friend you've never met, and she's quickly nearing the day when she will fall into  the open arms of God.  She and I have decided that we will meet at the river that flows through heaven when we both cross over.  How big is that river?  Will I be able to see her across the river?  Do you ever walk the banks of that river?  Are the waters really living?     Is there food in heaven?  I know the Heavenly Food, the Eucharist, will always be enthroned there, but do you gather for meals or prayer times?  Are there parties and celebrations?  What do you say when you see each other in heaven?  Do you have a heavenly name?     Are you there waiting for me?  I miss you so much!  Do yo

Alone at St. Stephen the Martyr.  In the dark, in front of the tabernacle, just me and Him. This is where I am happiest, with Him. The door opens and a woman comes in in nurses scrubs, and sits down.  She is crying.   She is crying so loud it tears at my heart.  I go to her. With tears in her eyes she looks up at me.  She sees perhaps the compassion in my eyes and that I want to be with her and moves over so I can sit down. "I'm here if you need to talk, if you need anything." TO CONTINUE READING - CLICK HERE

One day a new demon was asking questions of his demonic mentor, the elder demon assigned to show him the ropes so to speak.  "Why does the illustrious evil one hate humans so?"  asked the new demon. "You don't know?"   TO HEAR THE REST OF THE CONVERSATION...CLICK HERE!

One of God's greatest gifts to us is our Guardian Angel.  He is assigned to us at our conception, and is with us throughout our whole life.  But our Guardian Angel is more than just to protect us various mishaps or evil persons that seek to hinder or even do damage to us.  To know how to effectively communicate with and receive from our Guardian angel all that God wishes us to have, then we have to know more who our Guardian Angel is.  Who Is He?,,,read more here. 

Without exception, God calls each believer to become a prayer warrior. While some believers are uniquely gifted as intercessors and their prayers seem to flow right out of their spirit,  all  are nonetheless expected to intercede for others. But how do we respond to that call to mediate for another person—especially if intercession is not one of our gifts and we stumble along in our attempts at intercession, feeling inadequate and even inept? How can we answer God’s call upon us and become the best prayer warriors this side of heaven? Abraham is the first example of intercession as he speaks to God about Sodom and Gomorrah and gives us a couple of excellent clues on how to be a prayer warrior. First and foremost, Abraham models a personal relationship with his God. Think about it: which of our personal relationships allow us to be most like our real selves? Which of our relationships encourage us to be open and honest? It is always those relationships that are

I have never met them, but I know of them.  I don't know their names.  But I know what they did, and what they continue to do.   They abuse children which is a great evil before the Lord.   I don't want anyone to go to hell, so I prayed and asked God that if it was possible, if they could know a little of what they would suffer for all eternity HERE so that they would repent of their evil and turn back to God.  Basically, put the fear of Hell in them.   The answer made my heart drop... .TO READ MORE CLICK HERE. 

This universe has been around for about 13,798,000,000 years, give or take 37,000,000. That's the current best estimate, from 2013 . It's big, too. The photo shows part of the Hercules Cluster of galaxies. Light from that bunch of galaxies traveled for about 500,000,000 years before reaching us. What we see is the Hercules Cluster as it was around the middle of the Cambrian here, roughly when the first trilobite showed up. Taking the universe 'as is' makes sense: for me, anyway. I would much rather learn more about this wonder-filled creation, than insist that the Almighty is limited to what folks knew a few centuries back. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

One of the greatest gifts that God gives us in the Holy Mass, and the Holy Eucharist is to prepare us for Eternity.  There is no where you can go on the planet and prepare for your own Judgement and Eternity like you can by going to Holy Mass, Holy Confession and taking the Blessed Sacrament.   There is no Preacher or Church service in the world that prepares you for heaven like what happens every day at Holy Mass.   To Read More CLICK HERE.

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, on your own intelligence do not rely,” (Proverbs 3:5). God sees everything. He sees the clerk short-changing the old man, the boy stealing the heroin, the man cheating on his wife, the girl lying to her teacher. He also sees the teenager turning in the $100 bill he finds in the parking lot, the wife praying for her non-Christian husband, the daughter loving unconditionally her siblings who taunt her. He sees everything. He is a just and loving God and that’s why we can trust in him. His 360-degree vision takes in the full panorama of time and space. He sees behind closed doors and around corners. He sees things that happen at work, things that happen in our government, things that happen in our schools. He not only sees all in the present, he sees all that is beyond us and he sees all that is behind us. He sees it in the full context we will never see. And because he sees everything, everywhere with loving eyes, we can trust

One day while I was on my way to Holy Mass, I saw my priest walking up his driveway.  I said a prayer for him and pleaded to the Holy Seraphim for him,that he would be protected.   I sought the highest level of angels for him because I was given how much a Priest is hated by the evil one.    If the demon was given the choice of any person whose life he could take on the earth, the first person he would pick would be a good and holy priest on the path to becoming a saint .     We do not understand the protection God gives us daily by His angels.  For a moment I was no longer in my car... TO READ MORE CLICK HERE!

(From John Martin, via WikiMedia Commons, used w/o permission.) ('Now that I have your attention ....') God is occasionally presented as violence-prone, with serious anger management issues. Some folks who describe the Almighty this way seem to think that we should worship God because the alternative is getting squashed like bugs. Others claim that God is a make-believe bogeyman , invented by charlatans to frighten people. I think both claims are missing an important point. God is just, God is merciful: and sometimes God has to get our attention. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

In my exhaustion, I choose to completely  let go and let God . In purposeful trust, I choose to finally  let go and let God . In the gift of faith, I excitedly  let go and let God . I choose to see and believe that God is for me—and if God is for me, who can be against me? I choose to understand and know that God is my friend—and if God is my friend, who can be my enemy? I choose to eagerly accept that God has a plan for my life—and if God has a plan for my life,  why would I not let go and let God? Cheryl Dickow www.BezalelBooks.com Picture: ©   Luiba Tandit   | Dreamstime.com

NOTE: To understand this posting, you have to read Fearless (Part 1) which you can read.. .HERE Sometime after my first experience as written about in Fearless (Part 1), I was again praying the Stations of the Cross.  I get to the fourth Station, the Station where Jesus meets His Mother and I the Lord reminded me of the day when the pews made all that noise and St. Michael and my Guardian Angel showed up.   Then He said to me,  "I want to show you what was coming after you that day."  To read more... CLICK HERE!

Nothing will be impossible for you... This is another experience while I was praying the Stations of the Cross.  This is what I asked for. Out of love for all the lost souls that fall into hell constantly, that souls not be lost.... I asked God that the gates of Hell be closed for one hour. To read more.... CLICK HERE .

There is great evil in the world.  One need only turn on the news and see that.  As such I have cause to pray much about what I see on the news.  When I see death, I kiss the crucifix and ask for mercy for a soul before the judgement and when I hear of great evil acted from one soul to another, I ask for conversion of that most blackest of heart that did the evil. I don't usually get a direct answer to these prayers.  I don't even know the results of my prayers, and nor do I want to.  One day, God will show me all, I am happy to wait till then. However, during one prayer I realized that I was taking the very act of being able to ask God for mercy for someone for granted.   For even the ability to pray is a gift from God.  read more HERE

John the Baptist identified Jesus as the Lamb of God , so quite a few churches display pictures of a young sheep with a halo. That's a visual metaphor , though. WiseGEEK has a fairly painless discussion of visual metaphor , and I'm drifting off-topic. I don't worship a lamb, of course. Jesus is human, which is how my Lord is often portrayed. Details vary with time and place. Jesus, All Over the World The artist's image Jesus I've seen most often looks very European, hardly surprising since my native culture is rooted in Europe. Folks in other parts of the world often show Jesus and Saints as nice, normal people from that region. We don't know what Jesus looked like, at least not before the Resurrection. My guess is that my Lord's appearance was Middle-Eastern, but that's just an educated guess. Tradition tells us that Mary is a descendant of David, and Joseph, husband of Mary and foster-father of Jesus, is "of the house of David." T

What Really Happens at the Holy Mass. This is where I am happiest, at the Holy Mass.  Now I will tell you what really happens at Holy Mass. The Lord told me some time ago, "I want you to go to Holy Mass everyday."  I thought, "O.k., I can do that."   At the time I was only going to Holy Mass once a week, an occasional day Mass but I mostly just prayed in front of the Blessed Sacrament.  I didn't understand, but I obeyed.  Going to Holy Mass everyday required some coordination, I would have to get up earlier and find a Mass along the way to work.  Also, the Mass would have to be close enough to work that when it was finished I could still get to work on time.  I found several different permanent options, and a few back up plans if for some reason I couldn't get to my regular daily Mass. It took about a year of going to Holy Mass daily, but then things started to change.   This was no longer an obligation, but a joy!    God started to open my eyes t