Be Vigilant.......

"Every member of the Church must be vigilant in seeing that the sacrament of love shall be at the center of the life of the people of God so that through all the manifestations of worship due him shall be given back `love for love' and truly become the life of our souls."~~Blessed Pope John Paul II

Thank you AGAIN to my facebook friend Kelly Thatcher!  By the way, she is a great source of inspiration for my blog posts.  She is a pure facebook friend, otherwise I don't know her, never met her, but I very much view her as a beautiful friend in Christ who happens to be from Boston....very cool!!

Pope John Paul II on "Love"

"To imitate and live out the love of Christ is not possible for man by his own strength alone. He becomes capable of this Love only by virtue of a gift received.

As the Lord Jesus receives the love of his Father, so he in turn freely communicates that love to his disciples:

'As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Live on in my Love.' (John 15:9)"

— Pope John Paul II on "Love"
Veritatis Splendor, 1993
Thanks for the Quote Pope Francis! https://www.facebook.com/PopeFrancisPage

How to Understand the Mystery of Love

"The mystery of the Cross, a mystery of love, can only be understood in prayer. Pray and weep, kneeling before the Cross." — Pope Francis

Find Romance Glory Honor Fidelity......

1. 
   

   "Our Lord is hidden there, waiting for us to come and visit him and ask him for what we want. He is there, in the Sacrament of his love, sighing and interceding unceasingly for sinners before God his Father. He is there to console us…See how good he is! He adapts himself to our weakness…In heaven where we shall be triumphant and glorious, we shall see him in all his glory; if he had appeared before us now in glory, we should not have dared to approach him; but he hides himself like one in prison, saying to us, `You do not see me, but that does not matter; ask me for all you want, and I will grant it to you.'"~~Saint John Vianney

   "Out of the darkness of my life, so much frustrated, I put before you the one great thing to love on earth: The Blessed Sacrament…There you will find romance, glory, honor, fidelity, and the true way of all your loves upon earth, and more than that: by the divine paradox, that which ends life, and demands the surrender of all, and yet by the taste (or foretaste) of which alone can what you seek in your earthly relationships (love, faithfulness, joy) be maintained, or take on that complexion of reality, of eternal endurance, that every man's heart desires." ~~J.R.R. Tolkien

   Thank You Facebook Friend Kelly Thatcher for Posting the above quotes!

Humility Courage Intelligence

Humility, courage, intelligence......are three quailities I want for my children.  In fact I've had one on one talks with my children about these three things because I feel so strongly about them. Recently a video went viral with movie star Ashton Kutcher telling young people how to live their lives.  To summarize his entire video he told young people these things: work hard, to be sexy is to be generous, thoughtful and smart, and he told young people to build their lives by paving their own path, not just following what everyone else is doing.

I think the advice from Ashton is good, and the way it was charismatically presented was very effective.  I had my 18 year old and almost 14 year old watch the video.  My favorite line is," Don't let anybody sell you anything about being sexy other than to be generous, thoughtful and smart, everything else is crap!"  He is right and I'm glad he said it.  It's about time somebody in Hollywood said something to young people that actually values their dignity, doesn't treat them as objects, and guides them appropriately to be better people.

I just want to add a couple things to his advice that I have tried to impress upon my children:  Be HUMBLE and COURAGEOUS, and like Ashton said about being smart, have INTELLIGENCE!

Here is what I have said to my children:

Be HUMBLE, have HUMILITY which means rely on God for everything, pray and remember every good thing, every grace, every talent comes from God. Never live life as though you are better than anyone else. And when life gets you down.....go to God and pray. Always keep God first in your life.

Be COURAGEOUS...with your life, don't be afraid, take risks, charge on and serve.  It takes courage to serve. I've known people who put their very lives above others and this is so courageous.  This is what has drawn me to them!  There is so much I could say about courage, it is a gift and it is something that we should, with all HUMILITY, pray for.

Finally, be INTELLIGENT....study hard, work hard and use what you know to better the world. If this is elusive it would be wise/intelligent to pray for it.

I will admit, I have not always seen my children living out these things all the time but I plan to keep working to do my best to be their example and I will keep talking to them and praying for them on all of the above.  I hope by blogging about this I can inspire others to do the same!

Go HERE if you would like to view Ashton Kutcher's video.

Visit Him Often!

• "Do you want many graces? Visit Him often. Do you want Him to grant you only a few? Visit Him but seldom. Do you want the devil to attack you? Rarely visit the Blessed Sacrament. Do you want the devil to flee from you? Visit Jesus often. Do you want to overcome the devil? Take refuge at Jesus' Feet. Do you want to be overcome by the devil? Give up visiting Jesus.

  "Visiting Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament is essential, my dear boys, if you want to overcome the devil. Therefore make frequent visits to Jesus. If you do that, the devil will never prevail against you." ~~Saint John Bosco

  (thanks to facebook friend Kelly Thatcher for these quotes)

  
  

Prayeraid: Just for You!

Click on to the following link it will help you, it will not disappoint you.  It may just be what you have been looking for!  God Bless
Prayeraid: <!--[if gte mso 9]> <![endif]--&gt<!--[if gte ms...:                              

Battle Ready-Via Radix

Sharing From: Radix-  For Memorial Day and Everyday!

Radix

via Battle Ready:
The greatest battles we fight will always be those within our own souls. There are times when the weight of day to day struggles feels crushing and the strength to fight just doesn't seem to be there. 

The following is advice and encouragement from a brother of ours several hundred years ago. He understood the fight and what it meant to be BATTLE READY. 

'Fight, therefore, with great determination. Do not let the weakness of your nature be an excuse. If your strength fails you, ask more from God. He will not refuse your request. Consider this---if the fury of your enemies is great, and their numbers overwhelming, the love which God holds for you is infinitely greater. The Angel who protects you and the Saints who intercede for you are more numerous.' -Fr. Lorenzo Scupoli - The Spiritual Combat - 16th century

A Little Bit About the Rosary

A little about the rosary to go along with my previous post:
"I have come to see that every Hail Mary, every greeting to Our Lady, is a new beat of a heart in love."  St. Josemaria Escriva, The Forge #615

Church is a love story, Pope Francis says :: EWTN News

Somehow I think I understand this!!
Church is a love story, Pope Francis says :: EWTN News

Pope Francis asks for 'gift of tears' to see Risen Christ :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

This makes me feel better about all my tears!!
Pope Francis asks for 'gift of tears' to see Risen Christ :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)