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As the Morning Rising: Showers of Roses

As the Morning Rising: October - the Month of the Rosary : “ In trial or difficulty I have recourse to Mother Mary, whose glance alone is enough to dissipate every fear.” St Therese of the C...

(from The Breadbox Letters)

Scientists think they've detected more plumes of water, shooting up from near Europa's south pole. It's early days, but we may have found a comparatively easy way to collect samples from the Jovian moon's subsurface ocean. Stephen Hawking says humanity needs to keep exploring space. I agree, although not quite for the reasons he gave. SpaceX tested an engine they plan to use on their Mars transport, and Gaia's data seems to have raised as many questions as it answers. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

As the Morning Rising: Little Flower - St Therese of the Child Jesus : All over the world today and tomorrow and indeed every day in many vastly different places, minds and hearts will be given over to ...

Boy ploughing with water buffalo, Laos  Gospel Luke 17:5-10 ( NRSV, Catholic Ed , Canada) The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” The Lord replied, “If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you. “Who among you would say to your slave who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, ‘Come here at once and take your place at the table’? Would you not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, put on your apron and serve me while I eat and drink; later you may eat and drink’? Do you thank the slave for doing what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, ‘We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!’” In the summer of 1964, after my third year in the seminary, I spent a couple of weeks working in the Morning Star Hostel in Dublin. It was within walking distance of my home. I had been in the

Playing with the SAINTS! blog post #13 Today’s saint has quite a long story.  I hope you enjoy it! Saint Brigid: Many 100’s of years ago Saint Brigid was born in Ireland.  The year was 452. Her mother was a Christian slave baptized by Saint Patrick;  her father, a pagan chief. Thus when Brigid was born, she too was a slave.  When you are a slave, you must do whatever your master tells you to.  At any time your master may decide to sell you to another family and you must go–most likely never seeing your own family again!  Before Brigid was born her mother was sold to another pagan man.  Luckily for Brigid, she was able to stay with her mother for her first ten years of life. Stories about her growing up are filled with her being a pure and holy child.  She fed the poor and also healed the sick.  One time she gave away all of her mother’s butter that she had stored up.  Later, after Brigid had prayed, the storage area was miraculously refilled with butter. Continue rea

As the Morning Rising: Bright Roses

As the Morning Rising: In His Angels and in His Saints : Blessed be God in His angels and in His Saints.

Discovering that it is possible to become Christ’s presence on earth was an epiphany for my husband and me about 30 years ago. We suddenly understood that resurrected life  was not just for a few saints.  Every normal Christian can come to the point where they shout with St. Paul,              “No longer I that lives but Christ that lives in me.” What an awesome thought, mind-boggling, actually. We should be begging Christ to complete His work in us. So, I f this journey is so exciting, why do many of us experience periods of depression and anxiety?  continue reading

We continue with the second installment of our seven part series on the seven deadly sins. Today we discuss envy. How many times have you wished that you could buy a fancy new car like the neighbors? Or take a vacation to an exotic place like some friend? Or get a big raise, like your older sibling just got? When you go down this road and allow envy to take hold in your heart, you only set yourself up for disappointment and sorrow – every time! How so? Envy is wanting what others have, that you do not. It is the opposite of contentment. Rather than counting one’s blessings, the envious person... Read more...

Even if we didn’t have the Old Testament, we would still know that God is merciful from the teachings of Jesus. The very motto of the year of mercy is from his lips: “Be merciful as your heavenly Father is merciful.”  Jesus revealed the incredible Father’s mercy through not just one, but several parables, in particular, the prodigal son, the lost coin, and the lost sheep.  These are found in Luke, which is dubbed the Gospel of Mercy. In each parable, rejoicing is the response to finding what was lost. Jesus says that the angels rejoice when just one sinner changes his or her ways and God forgives them.  Click to continue

I have to be honest and say that  I never really thought I would enjoy teaching CCD as much as I do. I still talk to my old CCD teacher on occasion and I remember how much of a difference she made in my life. I hope one day I can make a difference in a kid's life as much as she did for me. But enough of that sappy stuff. So because today is St. Francis of Assisi's feast day today, we made Pet Prayer Cards. I used the following prayer of Catholic.com. Sadly I lost it and so I can only credit them and not supply a link.  "Blessed are you Lord God maker of all living creatures. You call fourth the fish in the sea, the birds in the air, and the animals on land. You inspired St. Francis to call them his brothers and sisters. Bless this pet (enter kids pet names here). By the power of love enable my pet to live by your plan. My we praise for for all you beauty" -Amen.   We also learned from our Old Testament Reading of Amos 6:4-7 Since the story is about social

As the Morning Rising: God's Merciful Love

I just wanted to share the flyer to my Charity Event with you all! I am so blessed to have this opportunity to do what I love with the people I love. For more information click here. 

This begins a seven part series on the seven deadly sins. Today, in part 1 of 7, we start with Anger. Do you ever get so angry that your face turns red, your blood pressure rises, and you lose control? When this happens, do you ever stop to think about what really causes you to experience such rage? Anger arises when an evil persists in the face of our resistance or when a good remains beyond our grasp, despite our efforts. 1   Anger is a natural emotion. Even Jesus lost his temper with the money-changers at the Temple. Yet, Jesus’ anger was righteous; used for the purpose of defending His Father’s house. For most of us though, anger arises when we feel unrighteousness crossing our paths. For us then, it is how we deal with it that makes all the difference. We best channel our anger appropriately when we... Read more... 

Although Jesus was full of love and could communicate it to others whilst He was on earth, God’s plan was initially limited. In other words, in entering into a world of space and time, Jesus was necessarily limited by the laws of space and time. To put it simply, he could only be at one place at a time. Meeting him, therefore, would necessitate coming and going, arriving and departing, and even his closest disciples could not be with him all the time. As for the rest of the world, they would not have a chance. However, after the Resurrection, he was not just restored to life, but to a totally new form of life. After being united with God, he re-entered the world in such a way, that he could not only be with but within anyone who chose to receive him. This did not just apply to those living when he rose from the dead, but to those who were to come later, to the end of time.   .....read on....

In just a few days, The Cloistered Heart blog will 'celebrate' five years on the Internet. Five years of posts on what it can mean to live for God, cloistered in heart, in the midst of our families and neighborhoods and workplaces; and it seems that in some ways, we are just beginning..... Because that many pages of quotes and pictures and analogies can be overwhelming, and because we (thankfully) have new visitors on an ongoing basis, I've decided to spend this week re-visiting some of our rooms and corridors.  So let's have a look around the cloister, shall we?.... (continue reading)

I think social justice is a good idea. I'd better explain that. I think acting as if people matter is a good idea: all people, not just the 'right' ones. I'll be talking about "the poor of the land," private property, the universal destination of goods, and a job that's not even close to being done. There's nothing wrong with prosperity, by itself. As 1 Timothy 6:10 and Hebrews 13:5 say, it's love of money that gets us in trouble. Some Saints, like Francis 1 and Claire , both of Assisi, were poor. Others, like Elizabeth of Hungary and Sir Thomas More , were anything but.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?”  Mark 4:40 Reflection by Willam Barclay ' God gives us peace  when life's problems involve us in a tempest of doubt and tension and uncertainty. There come times when we do not know what to do; when we stand at some cross-roads in life and do not know which way to take.  If then we turn  to Jesus and say to him, "Lord, what will you have me do?" the way will be clear. The real tragedy is not that we do not know what to do; but that often we do not humbly submit to Jesus' guidance. To ask his will and to submit to it is the way to peace at such a time. God gives us peace  in the storms of anxiety. The chief enemy of peace is worry, worry for ourselves, worry about the unknown future, worry about those we love.  But Jesus speaks  to us of a Father whose hand will never cause his child a needless tear and of a love beyond which neither we nor those we love can ever drift. In the storm