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As the Morning Rising: Send Down Your Spirit Like The Dewfall

"You'll never guess what he did now..." I grabbed my best friend, my confidant, and bit into the story. I should have brought my complaints solely to God, but I felt I needed someone human to empty the latest episode with my ex on. I don't believe in telling everyone the all the gory, ongoing details, but sometimes I need to unload on someone. She listened and then went into what her ex had done too. Both of us shaking our heads in disbelief as we heard each others' stories. For me, the intense agony of abandonment and betrayal has long been gone. Feelings of romantic love or longing for a reunion as well as fear of not being good enough or pain of worthlessness were long ago replaced by nothing more than amazement that I had ever loved a man capable of doing what my ex does and disbelief that I had ever found him the least bit attractive. I tend to look at him as a leper of society, one worthy of being shunned, and I think, "If people only knew...&q

Saint Margaret of Antioch The story behind this saint is mostly legendary but it was so interesting I had to share it. I hope you enjoy learning about her legend as much as I did. The information I share with you is taken from an old book, The Golden Legend, written around 1260–almost 800 years ago! Saint Margaret was born in Antioch during the third century. Her father was a pagan priest and her mother died shortly after her birth. Margaret’s father sent her to be cared for by a woman who lived about twenty miles away in the countryside. This woman was a Christian and taught Margaret about the faith. When Margaret was old enough to understand the faith, she too became a Christian and promised Jesus she would never marry–promised herself to Christ as His bride. When her father found out he was furious and banished her from the family. The woman who had raised Margaret adopted her and Margaret became a shepherdess–(a woman who raises and cares for sheep.) Read more to find out

We continue with the sixth installment of our seven-part series on the seven deadly sins. Today we discuss Laziness (also known as sloth). Everyone has goals in life; things that you want to accomplish. Whether it be obtaining a new house, or new career, spiritual growth or mastering some skill; nothing comes easily without hard work and effort. Laziness will hamper your ability to achieve your goals because it robs you of clear focus and purpose. You begin to doubt that what you want is achievable, so why try? Allowing doubts to take root is the underlying cause for laziness. Doubts come from the devil! He doesn’t want you to think that improving your lot in life is worth the effort, because he tells you that you are worthless. You begin to believe the devil’s lies and before you know it, laziness has settled into your life. Once laziness takes root in your life, you “refuse the joy... Read more... 

I’m interrupting my series on mercy by this blog that is relevant in light of current events.  God would certainly support women’s rights. According to Genesis, our God, who is neither male nor female, created women in his own image and likeness. Therefore, they are God’s children who share in God’s divinity. Women are men’s partners and have equal dignity. However, God apparently favors women! When God decided to come to earth as a human being, there were many options. God could have appeared as a grown man, a baby washed up on the shore, or the wealthy son of a king. Instead, the Son of God was conceived by a young village girl by the power of the Holy Spirit. As abolitionist Sojourner Truth pointed out in a speech, “Where did your Christ come from? From God and a woman! Man had nothing to do with him.” God’s mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, was the first person to hear the news that the Messiah was on his way. Click to continue

As the Morning Rising: Prayer : What prayer does best is bring me out of myself - and that's always a good place to go.

Although most respectable members of our parishes try to  look  healthy and content in public, mental illness is as common and invisible among the faithful as it is in secular circles. I would wager that mental health issues are especially prevalent among the devout who are serious about their inner life; when people tackle deep inner issues which prevent God from working in their lives, their inner equilibrium is upset by stress, anxiety, and depression.  This probably explains why most saints experienced profound periods of depression when they finally looked beneath their pious actions to face the reality of their own ingrained sin and subsequent need for inner purification. God offers His children the means to become free from sin, bad habits and mental illness through the Church, prayer, confession but also through therapy. Let's bring mental illness out of the shadows of shame and into the Light of Christ. continue

I CONFESS CLICK HERE

This is not St. Patrick’s. This is another Catholic church down town. It is what inspired me to go. You see I go to this part of the city at least four times a year for the last seven years and I had never been so I was inspired to take a stroll… While visiting NYC last week I was able to take my self on a date. Maybe it is just me but I enjoy the time. I had some where to be at 12:30 and was in the city by 9 am. So I figured I would just go exploring. One of my adventures that day was a MINI-Pilgrimage to St. Patrick’s Cathedral. If you would like to learn more about ST. Patrick’s so you can take a trip  click here . It was absolutely AMAZING and BREATH Taking.  Click here to continue 

           I attended Catholic school grades 1 through 8, and this of course meant wearing a uniform. In the lower grades it was a blue plaid jumper with a skirt.             That created a problem. Our play yard had a jungle gym, and some boys in the class took advantage of the situation to look up our skirts whenever we girls were on it. A few of us complained to the teacher about this unscrupulous behavior. Well, Sister came up with a not so brilliant solution: ban the girls from the jungle gym.             I'll never forget going out to recess that day, and hearing some boys on the jungle gym sneering, "Nyah, nyah. Girls aren't allowed. Nyah, nyah."             I learned a lesson that day, although I'm sure it wasn't one Sister intended: continue

We continue with the fifth installment of our seven-part series on the seven deadly sins. Today we discuss Greed. Greed, also known as avarice, will debilitate you because you’re dealing with a bottomless pit; an abyss. The unending desire for more money, power or fame, leaves a person feeling empty, insecure and unfulfilled no matter how much one tries to garner. There is no amount of money that guarantees security, for the fear of losing it all is ever-present. No amount of power garners confidence and self-assuredness, for the fear of losing control is ever-present. No amount of fame makes one feel like he/she “has arrived,” for the fear of being discounted and dismissed never goes away. Anyone who seeks more money, power or fame, for the purpose of filling a void, fights a losing battle. Read more...

As the Morning Rising: Healing : Healing Lord let me be as healer To the suffering stranger. May enough pass between us In silence For him to know I w...

How do we know what miracles of grace we may be the instruments of when... (continue)

(From Philippe de Champaigne/Tessé Museum, via Wikimedia Commons, used w/o permission.) Life in my mid-60s requires caution that wasn't necessary in my youth. Considering the alternative, though, being alive is pretty good: even in moments of loss. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

    In recent decades Europe, leader of modern secular culture, and other countries of the Asian continent have aged and the stress of their population control principles has already affected entire economies, after having swept the Christian social culture of Europe. The problem is now so serious that Governments have adressed the emergency, but with the same bureaucratic methods   used to solve other social problems: campaigns advertising and incentives so that couples have children. But it seems that these marketing efforts are not working and the answer and solution are, paradoxically, in the Christian culture that they spurned in the past.

As the Morning Rising: Our Lady of the Rosary : Our Lady of the Rosary, pray for us. http://saintpatricksbelfast.org.uk/ The statue was presented to the priests and people of St ...

Peasant Girls with Brushwood , Jean-François Millet, c.1852 Gospel Luke 17:11-19 ( NRSV, Catholic Ed , Canada) On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, they called out, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” When he saw them, he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were made clean. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus asked, “Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then he said to him, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.” I've told this story before but the incident in question had a profound impact on me. It happened on the morning of Holy Thursday

Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, 2016: Habakkuk 1:2 – 3 , 2:2 – 4 2 Timothy 1:6 - 8 , 13 - 14 Luke 17:5 - 10 Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, 2016 By Deacon Lawrence N. Kaas October 2, 2016 I'm sure we are all saddened to hear that by this time Father Tom is back home. ... He will be missed! There is one word that is repeated in all of the readings for this day. That word is Faith.... ...Now we can't just let this word Faith hang out there alone without some support.... ...If now we should take our Catechism and referred to paragraphs 142 through 165 we get a far more complete explanation of Obedience and Faith.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

A Jordanian couple have a baby boy: who does not have a lethal genetic disorder, thanks to DNA transplanted from a third person. Four of his siblings did not survive the procedure. I'll be talking about the decisions involved in that procedure, research involving "tiny brains" grown from human cells, genetically modified humans grown as research subjects, and water bears.... ...After discussing recent genetics news, I'll share why I take human experimentation and medical ethics personally, and what I see coming in the near future.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

As the Morning Rising: Rosary Poem