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  Sandhill Mass Rock   ('Carraig an Aifrinn', in Irish), County Donegal, Ireland. During the 17th century, when Catholics in Ireland were persecuted, Mass was often celebrated in remote places, with a   Mass rock   as the altar . Readings   (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)  Readings   (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa)  Gospel   John 6:51-58   (Revised Standard Version – Catholic Edition) Jesus said to the crowds: “I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh." The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you; he who eats my fles

Thankyou to Marion for managing this site. It  looks cheerful, uplifting & contains many posts of inspiration & help in the spiritual life. Do share the excellent posts among your readers and friends. Contact Marion m.bankswilkinson@btinternet.com

It is ironic that, as a Catholic, the most difficult part of having a chronic health issue isn’t the health issue itself but is the big question: Should I pray for healing…or should I carry my cross? And it is that question that often keeps us spiraling through a journey that is already burdensome and often overwhelming. In my own journey, which has lasted for the better part of two decades, I know that I’ve gone through many different phases. There were times that I tried to take on St. Paul’s attitude of embracing the “thorn” of an illness while at other times I was on my knees praying—between sobs of anguish—for healing. I’ve attended Healing Masses where I’ve been prayed over by a team of healers and have hands laid upon me; I’ve had private healing prayers said over me. I’ve done novenas and have sought alternative medical care—all at my own expense—when the established medical system failed me. I’ve been in bed unable to move from the dizziness that has enveloped me and hav

Love & Hisses: Your source for the cutest kittehs on the internet » 8/14/12    anyone in New York need a kitten or a cat ?, an apeal here from a lovely little family. I know we have readers in that general area, please help spread the information, after all "He liveth best ,who loveth best both man and bird and beast".

For years the only person who knew I suffered from a chronic illness was my husband. Over time, and out of necessity, a few more people were allowed into my world of health issues—and yet no one really knew the severity of what I went through, except my husband. What I’ve come to realize is that I prefer my world be divided into two clear parts: the private, reclusive Cheryl and the author, writer, teacher, social Cheryl. Mostly, though, at the heart of who I am is the private, reclusive Cheryl. My quiet, alone time is important to me—even more so since I began spiritual direction a few years ago and sought to understand the movements of God in my life and live accordingly. I need to be with God in a very real way and have learned how to respond to the ache for Him through my prayer life and “down time.” As the years progressed and I understood that my physical suffering had value, I began sharing bits and pieces of what I was going through: severe joint problems, nights of di

The more we pray, the more we wish to pray. Like a fish which at first swims on the surface of the water and afterwards plunges down and is always going deeper, the soul               plunges,                      dives,                           and loses itself                                 in the sweetness of conversing with God                                                                                St. John Vianney (reblogged  from A Prayer Corner ) (photo in public domain)

Litany of St. Clare Lord, have mercy Christ, have mercy Lord, have mercy Christ hear us; Christ graciously hear us. God, the Father of Heaven; have mercy on us! God, the son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us! God, the Holy Spirit, have mercy on us! Holy Trinity, one God, have mercy on us! Holy Mary, Queen of Virgins, pray for us St. Clare chosen of Christ, pray for us St. Clare, lover of chastity, pray for us St. Clare, vessel of holiness, pray for us St. Clare, prayerful daughter of St. Francis, pray for us St. Clare, morning light, pray for us St. Clare, Mother and Foundress of the Poor Clare’s, pray for us St. Clare, humble follower of Christ, pray for us St. Clare, faithful imitator of St. Francis, pray for us St. Clare, humble servant of the servants of Christ, pray for us St. Clare, brilliant light of holiness, pray for us St.

Feeling footloose, fancy-free and frisky, this feather-brained fellow finagled his fond father into forking over his fortune. Forthwith, he fled for foreign fields and frittered his farthings feasting fabulously with fair-weathered friends. Finally, facing famine, and fleeced by his fellows in folly, he found himself a feed flinger in a filthy farmlot. He fain would have filled his frame with foraged food from the fodder fragments. "Fooey! My father's flunkies fare far fancier" the frazzled fugitive fumed feverishly, frankly facing fact. Frustrated from failure and filled with forebodings, he fled for his family. Falling at his father's feet, he floundered forlornly. "Father, I have flunked and fruitlessly forfeited further family favors." But the faithful father, forestalling further flinching, frantically flagged his flunkies to set forth the finest fatling and fix a feast. The fugitive's fault-finding frater, faithfully farming his father's fields

“From the beginning therefore he [man] is called to work. Work is one of the characteristics that distinguish man from the rest of creatures, whose activity for sustaining their lives cannot be called work. Only man is capable of work, and only man works, at the same time by work occupying his existence on earth. Thus work bears a particular mark of man and of humanity, the mark of a person operating within a community of persons. And this mark decides its interior characteristics; in a sense it constitutes its very nature.” Blessed John Paul wrote these words in his encyclical Laborem Exercens in 1981. I’ve referred to this encyclical many times in my own writings and in attempting to get at the very nature of who I am as a Catholic woman, wife, mother, author, and teacher. I have found in his words a timeless truth—no surprise there!—and a certain sense of peace as well. Whether I have worked outside of the home out of necessity or out of a desire, balancing work with family al

, The Charity of St Lawrence , Bernardo Strozzi, painted 1639-40 Readings   (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) Readings (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa)  Gospel  John 6:41-51  (Revised Standard Version – Catholic Edition) The Jews then murmured at Jesus, because he said, "I am the bread which came down from heaven." They said, "Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, 'I have come down from heaven'?" Jesus answered them, "Do not murmur among yourselves. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, 'And they shall all be taught by God.' Every one who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. Not that any one has seen the Father except him who is from God; he has seen the Father.

Pope Benedict's Prayer Intentions for August 2012 General Intention Prisoners.   That prisoners may be treated with justice and respect for their human dignity. Missionary Intention Youth Witness to Christ.   That young people, called to follow Christ, may be willing to proclaim and bear witness to the Gospel to the ends of the earth. Posted by  Fr Seán Coyle  at  11:46      

If we have done wrong, yes we ask forgiveness, but even if we haven't done wrong, we should still ask for forgiveness.   The reason for this, is that if a heart has unforgiveness in it, that soul is at risk of God's unforgiveness of their sins.   "forgive us our sins as WE forgive" .  So even if we haven't done anything wrong, or think we haven't done anything wrong, we should still seek, even beg forgiveness so a persons heart is not hardened with unforgiveness and they are not at risk of the fire.

A dear sister-in-the-Lord recently shared her enthusiasm with me in regards to 6 pounds she had shed. I smiled and congratulated her and gave her a big hug. Six pounds – an awesome accomplishment, indeed! Of course she looked the exact same to me as she did before she lost the 6 pounds but I kept that little realization to myself. In other words, I thought she was perfect. Her physical beauty and her spiritual beauty were so interconnected, from my perspective, that had she gained weight I would not have noticed either. But those few pounds made a difference in how she viewed herself and how she believed the world viewed her. My own self-perception is just as fragile. I have never been known to purchase clothes that actually fit. I view myself as needing clothes that are always at least one size larger than the “real” me. My own body image still suffers as a result of many comments made to me while I was a young teenager. Body image is something that affects almost all wo

Today the Church honours  St Sixtus II and Companions , martyred in Rome on 6 August AD 258. Sixtus had been pope for just under a year. We can read about the deaths of these martyrs in the Office of Readings which includes an extract from a letter of St Cyprian:  Know that Sixtus and four of the deacons were beheaded in the cemetery on 6 August. Moreover, the Prefects of the City are pursuing the persecution relentlessly; if any suspected Christians are brought before them they will be executed and their property confiscated . The six deacons were  Januarius, Vincentius, Magnus, Stephanus, Felicissimus  and  Agapitus . Four days later the great  St Laurence of Rome , another deacon, was martyred. The names of Sts Sixtus, Cyprian and Laurence appear in the Roman Canon (Eucharistic Prayer I). I wonder did St Cyprian, as he wrote, have any inkling of the fact that he too would be beheaded in the same persecution under the Emperor Valerian, on 14 September that same yea

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My husband and I joined some of the pilgrims from our trip to Italy last year in Traverse City, MI this past weekend. It was a blessed time and is really why a pilgrimage is something you think you are doing for yourself but is really something God is doing for you! It took us 25 years of saving to get to Italy but was something that continues to give back to us. If you've never taken a pilgrimage, you may want to ask God to show you if this is something He is asking you to do. Sitting at Dave and Claire's breathtaking home with a view of God's beautiful earth! Everyone at dinner (from close left around table to close right): John, me, Dave, Laura, Julie, Tim, Father Libby, Teresa, Dom, Laura, Dave Everyone at Chateau Chantel Deacon explaining wine making Bishop Bernard Hebda joins us at Claire and Dave's  John and I in from of an ironwork that proclaims and reminds: I am the vine, you are the branches

On a visit to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania last week, my husband and our younger son bought  combo passes to ride the historic Strasburg Railroad and visit the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania next door. From the train, the views of the verdant farmland were spectacular.(Above is one I took with my iPad.)  Still, the two most powerful moments of the visit came when I least expected them. Keep reading....

From  The Gospel of John  (2003)    Directed by Philip Saville. Jesus played by Henry Ian Cusick; narrator, Christopher Plummer. [John 6:24-35 is found between 2:36 and 4:24 in the video.] Readings   (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)  Readings   (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa) Gospel John 6: 24-35   (Revised Standard Version – Catholic Edition) So when the people saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats and went to Caperna-um, seeking Jesus. When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, "Rabbi, when did you come here?" Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of man will give to you; for on h

Catechist's Journey blog, by Joe Paprocki, is posting a month long online retreat based on the Year of Faith theme.  He is using his book, A Well-built Faith, as a resource.  This link gives an introduction to the retreat, which began last Monday:  Preparing for a Year of Faith .  You can start the retreat at any time and make your own schedule. Vatican Radio's has posted the official calendar of events for the Year of Faith at this link:  Vatican Radio - Year of Faith: Official calendar of Events .

Ronnie Delany  of Ireland winning the 1500 metres in the Melbourne Olympics 1956 My mother wasn't particularly into sports but I remember her running up the stairs early on Saturday 1 December 1956 to wake up my brother and me with the great news that Ronnie Delany had won the 1500 metres in the Melbourne Olympics. I was 13 then, eight years younger than the Gold medallist. He has been a hero of mine ever since and last November I met him for the first time at the annual dinner of the past pupils' union of O'Connell Christian Brothers' School in Dublin where Ronnie had done the first three years of his secondary education. When I told him that he had been a hero to me down through the years he expressed a simple delight that for me is the mark of true humility. Stamp issued in Ireland on the 50th anniversary of Delany's win In one interview he said ,  Religion played an integral part in my life and still does, I did resort to prayer for co