How are you?

Good things today: sunny, found a cute and comfortable pair of sandals for only $39, one of my favorite coworkers announced her pregnancy, Vancouver hospital provides safe haven for abandoned babies.

Bad things today: I think I have a stye in my eye and I had to throw out all my makeup, not to mention my eye is so itchy I would like to rub steel wool over it!

How was your day?

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A message from Mother Earth - oh my!

From our local newspaper.....



Dear Sir:
This is an Earth history shared.
Universal Light students received images and words in a message from Mother Earth as a part of her history shared, during class at Nirvana on April 14, 2010.
* Pyramids
* A whale’s tail constantly moving/flowing
* A path to a distant place where people believed quite readily
* Dinosaurs living for millions of years together in harmony...Humankind can learn to do the same.
* Oceans rolling as earth turned, uncovering new aspects
* An old tree root that is laying on top of the earth, enduring injuries against all odds, a resilient survivor
* An all-encompassing surrounding light – the vibration of love



Submitted and then shared by the following
Lightworkers from the Wednesday Universal Light Class at Nirvana,


(names omitted to protect the privacy of these lunatics!)





CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS GARBAGE?! Heck, I'd like to know what they were smoking when they got this "message" from Mother Earth. Bwahahahaha!

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Goodbye...

...Ovechkin! Bwahahahahaha!

.

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La première étoile - Halak!

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GOHABSGO!

No abortion in Canada's G8 maternal health plan

The federal government has disclosed for the first time that Canada will not fund abortions in its G8 child and maternal health-care initiative for developing countries.

Liberal MP Bob Rae said the government has taken an ideological stand on the issue.
"They just reopened the abortion debate," Rae told reporters outside the House of Commons. "We are saying to the countries that are the poorest: 'We won't apply the law that we have in Canada'."

Good! This is something we need to talk about because we haven't had an abortion law for over 20 years! Good on ya, PM Harper!

I just sent him a thank you note and you can too:

e-mail to: pm@pm.gc.ca

write to:
Office of the Prime Minister
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa K1A 0A2

or Fax: 613-941-6900

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Congrats, Mel!

Mel over at Slightly Crunchy Catholic just gave birth to a bouncing (big!) baby boy!
Photos and more are here.

Congratulations, Mel!

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Do you want to see a photo of Terry Nelson and Cathy of Alex?

Terry Nelson and Cathy of Alex, circa 2010.

Interesting details if you look closely....

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It's what day?

Blogger Convention 2003. Terry Nelson and Larry D are in the back row. I am on the bottom row, second from the right LOL!

What? It's not Smurf Day?

It's what?

OH! EARTH Day.

Whatever!

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FACEBOOK CENSORS CATHOLIC ONLINE

Read more here.

Catholic Online (particularly the Forum)is where I received the bulk of my catechesis. It taught me how to debate charitably and that I better bloody well have good, orthodox Catholic resources and back up when I declare some fact about the Church. It's also where I first met the Crescat (who was just being received into the Church at that time) and my dear friend Laura. (Who called me out initially for being poorly catechized which for some crazy reason made me want to be her friend. She's still my go-to-gal for good solid Catholic teaching.)

Facebook - doing this to COL is just one more reason to hate you.

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URGENT Prayer Request!

I am asking you all to join me in prayer for SgtSoldierSon, MrsSgtSoldierSon and Grandbaby. You can read more about them here.

This prayer is recited at the same time every hour for nine consecutive hours in one day. It is used by supplicants with urgent requests that cannot wait for the nine days required for most novenas.



O Jesus, You have said, "Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened to you." Through the intercession of Mary, Your Most Holy Mother, I knock, I seek, I ask that my prayer be granted.



(Make your request)



O Jesus, You have said, "All that you ask of the Father in My Name, He will grant you." Through the intercession of Mary, Your Most Holy Mother, I humbly and urgently ask Your Father in Your Name that my prayer be granted.



(Make your request)



O Jesus, you have said, "Heaven and earth shall pass away but My word shall not pass." Through the intercession of Mary, Your Most Holy Mother, I feel confident that my prayer will be granted.



(Make your request)



Amen.

For Pearl

Tim on the right, Luke on the left

God bless our soldiers!

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A kindred spirit at this blog

Just discovered a new blog! Not only does this lovely blogger have a son in the 'Stan but she loves Divine Mercy, Therese of Lisieux, just read Ralph Martin's "Fulfillment of All Desire" and she's the same age as yours truly LOL!

For security reasons this blogger does not use her real name so I am going to call her "Pearl" because she loves to knit (and yes, I know it's properly spelled purl!)

Welcome, Pearl!

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Alles Gute zum Geburtstag Benedikt XVI

Ask your priest to offer the Mass of Fri. April 16

for the Holy Father's intentions.

It would make a lovely birthday gift for Il Papa!

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Another Novena for B16 - Apr. 24 - May 2

Amid the anti-Catholic sentiment in the media of today, please express your fidelity to the Vicar of Christ on earth in this hour when he is unjustly attacked. Pray for our beloved Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, that God may continue to grant him an abundance of spiritual wisdom and strength to guide the Barque of Peter through the difficult waters of our times.

Desiring to show our filial support and gratitude to our Holy Father, the Institute of Christ the King wishes to offer an abundant spiritual bouquet to His Holiness. Your prayers are needed! To participate in this spiritual bouquet, please use our online form. Simply indicate the number and types of prayers you wish to offer. This spiritual bouquet will then be presented directly to His Holiness.

We especially encourage your prayers and sacrifices during a special Novena beginning on Saturday, April 24, 5th anniversary of the inauguration of Pope Benedict XVI, through May 2, which is the first Sunday of the month of Mary, Mother of the Church. During this Novena IN support of His Holiness, we will also celebrate on May 1 the feast of Saint Joseph the Worker, Patron of the Universal Church and lifelong namesake patron of our Holy Father.

May God bless you for your prayers and sacrifices on behalf of His Vicar on earth.

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Thank you.

From my cousin's email this morning...

"The message from you made her smile too, I've made the necessary phone calls to arrange it."

(The arranging being calling the priest to schedule the anointing of my great-aunt who is quite ill and will be 87 on May 1.)

Thank you all for your prayers - most of my family has fallen far, far away from the Church so who knows how many lives this will touch. I only wish I had known I could have called to priest to do this for my own mother 13 years ago.

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Prayer requests

Please pray for Grace whose baby girl died Monday. She was 40 weeks pregnant, I have no details but the family is understandably devastated.

Please pray for my great-aunt Johanna. She is over 80 and I think her time is near. My cousin had the "Catholic chaplain" come and pray but her name is Sr. Mary. I counseled my cousin to contact a priest to come and give Auntie the Sacraments.

And don't forget to pray the Novena for the Holy Father (see sidebar.)

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Don't forget

Don't forget to the pray the Novena for the Holy Father. It's in the side bar (just look to the right.)

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RIP Pte. Todd

Pte. Tyler Todd

1984 - 2010

R.I.P.

Jesus, I trust in You.

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St. Thomas and the first DM Sunday in AD 33 !

Thanks to Adrienne for this lovely rendition of the Image.

"The Divine Mercy image is the image of the risen Christ on that first Easter on the evening of the Resurrection, miraculously appearing there in the Upper Room and bestowing on the Apostles the power of the Holy Spirit to forgive sins. His hand is raised in blessing, he shows them His wounds, and Jesus is looking for their trust. Recall that St. Thomas, the doubter, was not there on that first Easter Sunday, but was actually there on the "Second Sunday of Easter", the very first Divine Mercy Sunday. Now we can see why Jesus insisted that the Divine Mercy image, with the words "Jesus, I trust in You" be in view and venerated in our churches on that day."

Source

I went to early Mass this morning. Fr. W. was visiting and I LOVE Fr. W. with all my heart. Even though the image was not displayed and he did not say the words "Divine Mercy" or "St. Faustina," his entire homily was about love and mercy. In fact it was better, more though-provoking and faith building than what I heard Fr. Cambra preach from Stockbridge, MA via EWTN this morning.

After Mass I made sure to speak to Fr. W and thank him for the wonderful homily. I might be getting obnoxious about spreading the message of mercy but I said to him, "Father, it's Divine Mercy Sunday and your homily was all about Divine Mercy. THANK YOU!"

This last week has been trying due to a situation in my parish. This situation will not be resolved any time soon. However, as I contemplated Fr. W's words this morning I realized that God loves everyone involved in this problem at church. He loves the obnoxious trads, He loves the flaming liberals and He loves everyone inbetween. He loves those who give gobs of money to the collection plate and He loves those that are sending their funds elsewhere in protest of a recent decision made by our priest. In fact, God loves us because He created us and not for anything we do, even in His name.

God's mercy is such a relief! If I had to depend on myself to get to heaven...well, I don't even want to think about that!

O Greatly Merciful God, Infinite Goodness, today all mankind calls out from the abyss of its misery to Your mercy–to Your compassion, O God; and it is with its mighty voice of misery that it cries out Gracious God, do not reject the prayer of this earth's exiles! O Lord, Goodness beyond our understanding, Who are acquainted with our misery through and through, and know that by our power we cannot ascend to You, we implore You, anticipate us with Your grace and keep on increasing Your mercy in us, that we may faithfully do Your holy will all through our life and at death's hour, Let the omnipotence of Your mercy shield us from the darts of our salvation's enemies, that we may with confidence, as Your children, await Your final coming-that day known to You alone. And we expect to obtain everything promised us by Jesus in spite of all our wretchedness. For Jesus is our Hope: Through His merciful Heart as through an open gate we pass through to heaven.

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Novena for the Holy Father

In response to the continued attacks in the media against the Holy Father, the Knights of Columbus are asking faithful Catholics everywhere to pray a novena, beginning today, Divine Mercy Sunday, and ending April 19th. That day also happens to be the fifth anniversary of the start of Pope Benedict's pontificate.

Here's the link to the K of C site that includes a short video presentation by Bishop Lori of Connecticut.

Here's the link to the novena prayer card. I'm displaying the prayer in my sidebar for the next nine days.The pope is always in need of prayers, now more than ever. Please participate in this endeavor. Involve your friends and family members. And pray for his detractors, both within and without the Church.

H/T to LarryD

Ask, be, trust

It's been a long week. A situation has come up in my parish that has caused hurt feelings.
Father is upset about it. Like a parent (they don't call him father for nothing!) he is unhappy when his children are butting heads.

This weekend is Divine Mercy Sunday. While I have no illusions that all problems will be resolved by Sunday I do hope that everyone involved will practice the ABCs of Mercy.

A -- Ask for His Mercy. God wants us to approach Him in prayer constantly, repenting of our sins and asking Him to pour His mercy out upon us and upon the whole world.

B -- Be merciful. God wants us to receive His mercy and let it flow through us to others. He wants us to extend love and forgiveness to others just as He does to us.

C -- Completely trust in Jesus. God wants us to know that the graces of His mercy are dependent upon our trust. The more we trust in Jesus, the more we will receive.

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No secret

Among Eastern Christians (both Catholic and Orthodox), there's a compendium of spiritual texts known as the Philokalia. It's a sort of spiritual reader, collecting stories from early saints and other monastic spiritual guides throughout the centuries. What follows is one of my favorite stories from the collection:

Two monks were praying on the mountain when the first monk turned to the second and said: "I cannot understand why you enjoy such renown among the people for holiness."

"I fast every day, whereas you fast on Wednesdays and Fridays only," the first monk said. "I pray for six hours a day. You stop after three. I preach hard teachings to the people, for hours at a time, never compromising an iota of Christian orthodoxy. You limit your homilies to ten minutes - even on important feasts like Christmas and Easter."

"I confess my sins publicly once a day, you confess privately every second week."

"I perform severe penances to discipline the flesh and atone for my sins. You like to relax and partake of food, wine and conversation with the pilgrims who visit our monastery."

"I limit myself to three hours sleep a night, on hard ground with neither blanket nor pillow. You sleep for six, on a bed."

"I donate 75 percent of my stipends to the Church, while you keep 75 percent for yourself."

"I spend our leisure time during the day memorizing Sacred Scripture, while you go for a walk in the mountains and whistle with the birds."

"So what's your big secret?" the first monk asked. "Why do you enjoy a reputation among pilgrims for holiness, and not me?"

The second monk thought for a second, looked his companion in the eyes, and said: "There's no secret, my brother. I love Jesus."

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What I did Wed. night.

Parish council meetings...see the Christians...how they love one another....Lord, have mercy.

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Husband of St. Gianna died....

....on Holy Saturday. Full story here.

Guard and defend me from the foe malign.

In life’s last moments make me only thine.

Call me and bid me come to thee on high

Where I may praise thee with thy saints for ever.

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Happy Easter!

He is risen - ALLELUIA!

Wishing you all a

Happy and Holy Easter!

Love, Angela

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Good Friday

But he was pierced for our offenses,
crushed for our sins;
upon him was the chastisement that makes us whole,
by his stripes we were healed.
We had all gone astray like sheep,
each following his own way;
but the LORD laid upon him
the guilt of us all.

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