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After the party when St Francis had a brief mystical experience, he began to visit churches and places of solitude where he could prayer. Firstly he went with a friend, and then on his own. He was tempted to believe that all his exertions were a waste of time. Then one day everything changed. Whenever he had met lepers in the past he would always give them whatever help he could, but, as he couldn’t face them in person, he had sent others to give them alms. That day everything changed. When he was out riding in the valley of Spoleto he came face to face with a leper who he couldn’t avoid. This time he didn’t spur his horse and gallop away, but leapt from his saddle, not just to give him alms, but to kiss him on the mouth. Then he did the same for the inmates of the local leprosarium, while begging their forgiveness for his cowardly behaviour towards them in the past. His attitude to the poor was changing too. Long before he became aware of a specifically religious calling he had alwa

I love this time of year, when the leaves turn from green to magnificent hues of gold, orange and red; when the air turns crisp; and the holidays beckon. It’s my favorite time of year! For me, this is the last autumn of my life, as I turn 60 in March, and will enter the winter of my life. Time is short, and every seasonal change reminds me that my time on earth is limited. As the seasons change, I take of stock of what I have accomplished and where I have fallen short; where I have excelled in virtue and where I could have done better. Autumn Winds; Hearts Afire As I celebrate this last autumn of my life, my heart is afire for Christ. Having left Corporate America, and the stress that went with it, I now work for Christ. Jesus is the best boss ever! The monetary salary is nothing to write home about, but the serenity, joy, and peace is priceless! My job also comes with increased trust, faith, patience and perseverance! Bottom line is that when... Read more...  

We learn from and are inspired by other people. Olympians, movie stars, and sports figures often credit an older person who was a model for them. An African proverb is “No one sits by the fire without getting warmed.” Mary, the Mother of Jesus, serves as an excellent model of mercy for us. No doubt, she taught Jesus ways to be a merciful little boy, a merciful neighbor, and a merciful cousin. On e wonders how she could ever forgive Herod, who tried to murder her Son; the neighbors and relatives who tried to throw him off a cliff; and the people who called him crazy and possessed. How could she forgive the apostles who deserted Jesus on Calvary? Yet, we find her among the them on Pentecost, praying. We call the Blessed Virgin the Mother of Mercy; she had a heart large enough to forgive and loving enough to help those in need. Let’s reflect on a few events in her life that demonstrate this.  Click to continue

It's easy to cast fingers in divorce. Society claims there are two sides to every story. It claims that no one is innocent in Marriage. Even friends and family repeat harmful phrases about everyone deserving to be happy. What ma kes those phrases so wrong? There is truth in each of them after all. We all make mistakes. No one is perfect. Mistakes one spouse makes must help drive the other away, right? We assume that if someone we love isn't happy, it can't possibly be their brokenness. A spouse must have driven them to unhappiness. These quiet, unspoken, implied accusations damage society, tempt foolish, self-focused spouses, and deeply harm innocent spouses. Despite beliefs many had as a naive young brides, we now realize all too well that there is often an innocent spouse in divorce. To read the rest of the post, please join me at SingleMomSmiling.com . Thank you for joining me and for liking and sharing my work. God Bless...

As the Morning Rising: October : Thank you, nature, for reminding me that it is still October, the month of the rosary.

Three weeks is all I have left until my hubby comes home. My husband has been away at Police Academy for 8 months. He comes home on the weekends but with school being three hours away, he’s home for a day before he leaves again. It is like he is coming and going and going and coming as quickly as he came. This experience has touched my heart in so many ways. I have learned so much.  I now appreciate my husband and the role God has place in him for our marriage. I have also have had the blessing to understand and appreciate my place in this marriage as well. God has truly touch both of our hearts. I guess this brings me to my actual story. I have only come back to my faith about a year and a half ago at this point. I have learned so much and I have been happier than I have ever been and I know that it is because of my faith. This has only increased my faith. I am truly amazed everyday for the wonderful blessings that God has placed in my life. Click Here To Continue.

Father Jeffrey Kirby, STL, does a fantastic job of describing God’s limitless mercy in Doors of Mercy; A Journey Through Salvation History . Father Kirby tells us of the six covenants made between God and man, and how in every instance man was unfaithful to God. Yet, through God’s mercy, we were evermore blessed. Father Kirby walks us through the covenants made between God and Adam and Eve, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David and ultimately though the New Covenant, Jesus. He tells us of the importance of the Prophets and the Church in God’s plan for salvation; a salvation brimming with Mercy. He gives special attention to Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska who experienced visions from Jesus teaching her about His mercy. Divine Mercy Message I especially enjoyed Father’s Kirby chapter devoted to the life of St. Maria Faustina Kowalska, and her Divine Mercy Message and Devotion. In addition to the dedicated chapter on Saint Maria Faustina, Father Kirby provides... Read more...

As the Morning Rising: Arranging the Flowers : Arranging the Flowers The softest of prayers were shared As flower heads passed through hands like beads, They counted out th...

'As soon as worldly people see that you wish to follow a devout life, they aim a thousand darts of mockery and even detraction at you. The most malicious of them will slander your conversion as hypocrisy, bigotry, and trickery. They will say...' (click to continue)

I generally identify with the tax collector in today's Gospel reading: Luke 18:9 - 14 . That's okay, since emulating "those who were convinced of their own righteousness," despising everyone else, is a bad idea. The problem wasn't what the Pharisee was doing. Fasting, within reason, is a good idea. It can be part of penance. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1434 , 1438 , 2043 ) Along with tithing , it's part of being a Catholic. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Do not abandon yourselves to despair. We are the Easter people and hallelujah is our song. Freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought.   As the family goes, so goes the nation and so goes the whole world in which we live. There is nothing more man needs than Divine Mercy – that love which is benevolent, which is compassionate, which raises man above his weakness to the infinite heights to the holiness of God.     St. Pope St. John Paul ll The future starts today, not tomorrow. Stupidity is also a gift of God, but one mustn’t misuse it. continue reading

En este día de la madre hemos encontrado buenas noticias envueltas para regalo para las madres del mundo. Estas vienen, por un lado desde la ONU donde recientemente se dieron a conocer los “Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible para el 2030”, y el otro la “Exhortación Apostólica Amoris Laetitia” del Papa Francisco y la Iglesia Católica. Dos documentos que tratan, en su propia zona de acción, de impulsar a los hombres a construir un mundo mejor. ¿Qué madre no quiere lo mejor para sus hijos y trabaja por ello todos los días? Estos dos documentos tratan de atacar los males que afectan a tantas personas y de lograr mejores condiciones para las futuras generaciones, de las que tanto se preocupan todas las madres, pero lo hacen de modos totalmente diferentes y, a veces, hasta contrastantes.

As the Morning Rising: Creation Celebration

Spare a moment and a prayer for the political types, please and thank you. I’m one of them. The bitter election-year exchanges on every platform are part of my daily life. Whether on television on online, shutting them down altogether is not an option, appealing though it may be. Politics is part of my vocation. Times like these, I’m tempted to wish it were otherwise. This is a plague-on-both-your-houses year, looking at the major parties’ candidates for president. I am reading  C.S. Lewis’s   Mere Christianity  this month, and something he wrote in there captures my attitude. I feel a strong desire to tell you – and I expect you feel a strong desire to tell me – which of these two errors is the worse. That is the devil getting at us. He always sends errors into the world in pairs – pairs of opposites. And he always encourages us to spend a lot of time thinking which is the worse. You see why, of course? He relies on your extra dislike of the one error to draw you gradually

One woman decided to take a road trip after learning she had a terminal illness. Another switched careers. Both choices make sense, given the circumstances. This year's World Food Prize goes to a team who developed a new sweet potato, scientists found a virus with spider genes, and there's a lively difference of opinion regarding human life span. We've learned a lot since my youth, and there's a great deal left to learn. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Do you remember this song, Day by Day in the Broadway play “GodSpell”? Well, it is based on a prayer from the 13th century by  St. Richard of Chichester   Thanks be to Thee, my Lord Jesus Christ, for all the benefits Thou hast given me, for all the pains and insults which Thou hast borne for me. O most merciful Redeemer, Friend, and Brother, may I know Thee more clearly, love Thee more dearly, follow Thee more nearly, day by day.  Amen continue

As the Morning Rising: Light Within : Sometimes the inferno of a setting sun when reflected on western-facing window panes suggests that the space within is lit internally. ...

My family used to spend their summer holidays in our little cottage on the Yorkshire moors just below the mighty Ingleborough, which was the nearest thing I had ever seen to a mountain. I loved to watch and listen to the moorland birds. My favourite of all was the kestrel.  Kestrels were comparatively rare in those days, at least to a townie like me, so I watched it for hours hunting in the heather. I loved the peat moorland and the majestic Ingleborough towering over our little cottage. No other landscape has affected me more deeply, perhaps because it was my first love, and there’s always something special about your first love.     read on...

As the Morning Rising: God's Presence : Being in God's presence is more than companionship, for in God our bodies as well as our minds and hearts and souls find rest We are...

So I was out for week 3 hence why it goes from 2 to 4. I swear I can count! After being gone for a week my kids were super jumpy. The week I was gone the kids were in with the third grade class, so I have no idea what they did. They told me but all at once and at 100 mph! So get out a lot of this energy we did our opening prayer. The kids really like saying the Our Father Prayer and so I let them run with it. After our opening prayer I lined everyone up on the side of the room. I began exuding people and switching them to spots all over the room. Trust me they needed the run. When then continued to exclude people by the following: Shirts Shoes Colors Jackets Then my favorite part comes where I make my kids think! What I love most about these open ended questions is that my kids really put their thinking caps on. Click here to continue for "Think Questions" and Activity!