Friday, June 19, 2009

Be prepared: America get ready!


Are you ready for anything? The people at International Preparedness Network think we should be. Pretty interesting stuff. Of course spiritual preparation should be at the top of the list!
Posted by Padre Steve at 1:07 PM
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3 comments:

Brian J. O'Malley said...

A lot was learned in central Massachusetts last December when an Ice Storm took out all major utilities for over a week.

June 20, 2009 at 12:02 AM
Michele Bondi Bottesi said...

God’s Love Transcends Every Circumstance

And the Word became flesh
and lived among us,
and we have seen his glory,
the glory as of
a father’s only son,
full of grace and truth.
John 1:14

Consider this moving excerpt from The Magnificat Rosary Companion: “The shepherds come and tell what the angels have announced to them: that in the city of David a Savior is born and that they are invited to seek him, and to find him, and to see him, wrapped in swaddling clothes. Mary ponders these things in her heart. She ponders a love so true, a grace so great, that it cannot be compromised by the ugliness of circumstances. This child is a King, this child is God, and yet he rests here in the harsh discomfort of a stable, in the company of animals.

"She herself is a virgin, and yet this child lives and breathes in her arms. In this moment, Mary is a sign to us that no circumstance warrants despair. No human circumstance offers an excuse to proclaim and blame God’s absence, because there is no human circumstance in which he is not present. And thus there is never a reason to abandon hope and to lose our joy. For the Word is made flesh and dwells among us. Mary prays for us sinners, that this knowledge of the Word made flesh may become our very life and our joy, as he is her joy for ever” 1.

God has such great love for each one of us, love which has been clearly demonstrated and continues in the present moment. One way we can love God in return is by acknowledging our confidence in His presence through the joys and trials of our lives. Despite how we may sometimes feel, God is never absent. In times of adversity, take time to reflect on the Source of your strength.

Mary knew that God is the source of our strength. In a tremendous expression of faith, Mary gave her consent to becoming the mother of Jesus (Luke 1:38). Pope Benedict XVI explained in his first encyclical letter, Deus Caritas Est (“God Is Love”), “Mary’s greatness consists in the fact that she wants to magnify God, not herself…She knows that she will only contribute to the salvation of the world if, rather than carrying out her own projects, she places herself completely at the disposal of God’s initiatives"2.

God determined that His Son Jesus would be born into poverty (2 Corinthians 8:9; Luke 2:7), which meant a life of poverty for Mary. Imagine the suffering of our Blessed Mother as she stood by the Cross while her only Son so lovingly offered up His agony and death for our salvation.

Let us emulate Our Lady, who so generously, confidently, and completely lived her life in God’s service, to our eternal benefit.
Go to Mary and ask her to help you say “Yes” to God. Imagine how God will use your “yes” to benefit others! Be not afraid, for you can count on Mary’s intercession and on God’s love for you. His love transcends all circumstances. Share your “yes” with those who are in need of encouragement. God is at work in you!

Michele Bondi Bottesi
www.godisatworkinyou.blogspot.com
_____________________
1. The Magnificat Rosary Companion, copyright 2007 by Magnificat USA LLC, p. 11.

2. Pope Benedict XVI, Encyclical Letter Deus Caritas Est (Rome: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2005), #41.

June 20, 2009 at 1:24 PM
Pam said...

"BY THY HOLY AND IMMACULATE CONCEPTION, O MARY, DELIVER US FROM EVIL."--Prophetic Prayer taught by Our Lady of America to Sister Mary Ephrem, Convent of the Sisters of the Precious Blood, Rome City, Indiana, 1956.

June 20, 2009 at 2:27 PM

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