Joy Battista

"Joy Battista" stands for the Joy of John the Baptist at the presence of Christ.

"And how have I deserved that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, the moment that the sound of thy greeting came to my ears, the babe in my womb leapt for joy." Luke 1:43-44

This blog is dedicated to all who seek the Joy of Christ's presence in their own lives.
This blog is also dedicated to the unborn, for John the Baptist was an unborn when he leapt for joy at the presence of Jesus who was also unborn at the time.

WELCOME!!

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Making a Difference

I have a confession to make, one of my New Year's resolutions of exercising every morning has not happened for various reasons. But I have been getting to daily mass again after dropping the kids off to school on a consistent basis, which was my other main New Year's resolution. This week with two snow days I have missed mass twice which I am bummed about. But I know God understands and is happy with me for my efforts otherwise. Mass has indeed been my priority over exercising and I know that it is very very good.

I am excited to share with you the fruits of going to mass and praying and blogging and being open to the Holy Spirit. I have blogged in the past about my newfound discovery and love of St. Francis of Assisi. I actually feel that St. Francis has been stalking me (more on that in future posts I’m sure!). And I am happy to be stalked by him! And I am sharing this with you hoping to inspire you to start a relationship with St. Francis if you don’t have one. Or if not St. Francis, maybe there is another saint stalking you and you don’t know it yet or haven’t figured it out (see my archive, October 4th and October 28th, 2010 posts on examples of St. Francis stalking me). Or maybe you have a special Saint relationship but haven’t shared this with others. I beg of you… please share. Start a blog, facebook about it, share it over a cup of coffee....no matter what, let the Holy Spirit help you to tell others the good news along with your special saint.

I received a phone call back in December from a reader of my blog who started reading because of our friendship on facebook. This friend was a lukewarm Catholic who had just been going through the motions of her faith. But something inspired her to begin reading the life of St. Francis of Assisi in the past year. She then started reading my blog and found a true connection and called to share it with me. She was overflowing with zeal and told me how a traveling statue of Our Lady of Portugal came to her home for a month last October. Because of Our Lady’s special presence, which sparked prayer in her home, she had a profound conversion back to the Faith. She reread her St. Francis book and she started attending daily mass and praying the rosary. This gave her the confidence and zeal to speak up to her children's Catholic school officials about truly living the gospel in the spirit of St. Francis of Assisi. She has courageously become outspoken about living and teaching others to live a Christlike life and to treat others in a Christlike manner. This woman is on fire and making a difference. And the difference is that she is speaking up and sharing the good news of Christ and the Saints and the Church to others, myself included.

Now our relationship is blossoming and we have connected with other friends to start a special Rosary for Peace. We have secured a place to meet and pray the rosary on a weekly basis every Wednesday, from 2:30pm-3:00pm. We’ll pray for peace in our hearts, homes and families, schools and churches, America and the world. Won’t you join us in person or in spirit every Wednesday. Mary, the Virgin Mother of God, has asked us, in her appearances throughout the world, to pray the rosary for peace and that is what we are gathering to do!!! (Praying the rosary is a meditation on the life of Christ through the intercession of Mary.) For more information comment here or e-mail me on facebook.

Do you have a special saint story you would like to share? Please comment here and make a difference!

2 comments:

lisa said...

Love it. Peace in Christ

Kelly Thatcher said...

Hi Jackie,

When the relic of the True Cross was stolen from our parish -- Cathedral of the Holy Cross -- many of us made a Novena to Saint Anthony. The relic was returned, but the man who took it disappeared. While our joy at having the relic back is incomparable, we did so want to thank the man for returning it. So, whenever Saint Anthony's name is heard in a litany, we ask him to pray not just for us, but for the "good thief." Love your blog!