Sunday, September 30, 2007

My precious big Sister, St Therese....and RECON news!




Therese as a novice.


" She mentions her own patience humorously. During meditation in the choir, one of the sisters continually fidgeted with her rosary, until Therese was perspiring with irritation. At last, "instead of trying not to hear it, which was impossible, I set myself to listen as though it had been some delightful music, and my meditation, which was not the 'prayer of quiet,' passed in offering this music to our Lord."

Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, Virgin.
Celebration of Feast Day is October 1.

Visit here
to learn more about my lovely big sis, St. Therese.
there are countless websites dedicated and devoted to this Doctor of the Church.

She is powerful in heaven as a prayer partner. Ask her intercession and you will be amazed, and delighted with her many miracles, small to large. She is definitely spending her Heaven doing good on the earth!

May a shower of roses or a single rose, from anyone, or anywhere brighten your day today. Be looking, she will never disappoint.

Peace of Christ.
Remain blessed,
and in God's generous grace,


susie

http://z.about.com/d/gardening/1/7/Z/A/Shahzad_Rose8.jpg

RECON started one year ago!
On St. Therese's feast day ~ may
GOD BE PRAISED!

Our next RECON meeting is next Sunday... October 7 5:30 - 7:30 Hope y'all can come!
We will enjoy our guest speaker, Shirley Dunlap from St. Robert Bellarmine (our wonderful parish.) Shirley was away from the Catholic Church for 50 (yes FIFTY) years! Come hear her story of reversion and enjoy fellowship and prayers and refreshments with others, who like Shirley, have found their way back HOME IN ROME! Those of us, who longed for community, and the Church Jesus established, with hearts hungry for Truth will find another dear soul who is cheerfully giving of her time to share her story! PLEASE tell your friends and bring a friend to hear Shirley's story... and I hope to....

SEE YOU AT THE HOLY FAMILY SHRINE
THIS COMING SUNDAY!

And this Discipleship Award goes to!...........

[mathetes.jpg]

Mathetes
is the Greek word for disciple, and the role of the disciple (per the Great Commission) is to make more disciples. I am honored to have been chosen for this award which "made my day" today. I now would like to award five other bloggers for acting in the role of a disciple of Christ. These 5 share the Faith in such unique and creative ways, with their own gifts. I read on WSNS that Winners of this award must pick five other "disciples." Below are my 5. Then she wrote: "As you pass it on, I just ask that you mention and provide links for (1)this post as the originator of the award (Dan King of management by God), (2) the person that awarded it to you, and then (3) name and sites of the five that you believe are fulfilling the role of a disciple of Christ. If you know of other deserving recipients of this award, and would like to start a new string, then please post a link to where you've started in in the comments to this post. I would love for many deserving bloggers to be blessed with this recognition."

My five nominations are:

1. Tiber Jumper

2. Mike Aquilina

3. Mark Mallett

4. Onion Boy

5. Jeff Baker


Originator of this award found here


I'd like to thank White Stone Name Seeker for this award. THANK YOU! You're a favorite of mine and such a dear to visit and comment. You've brightened many a day for moi! : )



Thursday, September 27, 2007

STARBUCKS COFFEE?....uh, no thanks!

Mystic Monk Coffee


Mystic Monk Coffee



h/t to TJ for this one


And yes,
pray for Joni Mitchell
who's recently released c.d.
is once again
blasting Catholics
No doubt
out of her open-minded
"tolerance"




Hypocrisy
is nauseating.
God keep me from it
and when I fall
may I run to confession
with wings on my feet

Fatal Attractions...

Thursday, September 20, 2007

Got knots?

Please visit TJ's blog and hear his latest song: Mary Untier of Knots.

If you're like me, you won't have dry eyes for long!

Also, visit here for more about Mary the Untier of Knots.

“Eve, by her disobedience, tied the knot of disgrace for the human race; to the contrary, Mary, by her obedience, undid it”.

The image “http://www.maryundoerofknots.com/images/photos/virgin_mary_2.jpg” cannot be displayed, because it contains errors.

One more thing regarding RWM...


When I got to see RWM on Feb. 14, 1997, only 7 months before he was killed, I'd not known who he was, and only heard a few songs on Christian radio prior to the concert, but loved what I heard so I was delighted when my husband got us tickets. I was captivated by his brutal honesty on stage and I fell in love with his "St. Francis" spirit. In all of the concerts I ever went to, Christian or secular, his was the most amazing and phenomenal, and 'changed me' profoundly deep inside. I was "spellbound" when he came on stage. I was captivated by this 'seeker of Truth' (and his boyish charm,) which was made all the more charming simply because of his love for Christ that he unabashedly shared in his speech and music. (Eyes that twinkle that brightly are lit by Christ and nothing else.) His heart seemed to be constantly hanging on his shirtsleeve and to me, he was one of those guys from a cowboy movie-- the "loner who rides into town" and helps people out by working for them or bending his ear if they just need a friend. A man blown by the prairie wind - for all to either accept or reject...it didn't matter to him. What mattered was his walk with Christ and knowing Him more deeply. Rich was a real "diamond in the desert" on the Rez - living the Franciscan life, definitely "Catholic" by the baptism of desire.

It was 10 years ago yesterday that he left this earth as a "enigmatic, restless Catholic" as Terry Mattingly so aptly describes him in this recent article.

I wonder how many lives and souls RWM touched? How many he still is touching? Isn't it great, that in the Catholic Church, our loved ones, though not present with us as they used to be, are even in a sense MORE PRESENT to us from beyond the veil? I know Rich is praying for us all to be one in the One who is ONE FOREVER. Let's get over our bickering, and let us love one another as Christ loves us. It's hard to be a Christian and hard to be a saint, but it's really hell to be anything else. Richard Wayne Mullins, pray for us!

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

RWM...as best as I remember him...

Great quotes of Richard Wayne Mullins...

Sourced

  • We do not find happiness by being assertive. We don't find happiness by running over people because we see what we want and they are in the way of that happiness so we either abandon them or we smash them. The Scriptures don't teach us to be assertive. The Scriptures teach us—and this is remarkable—the Scriptures teach us to be submissive. This is not a popular idea.

[edit] In Concert

  • Never forget what Jesus did for you. Never take lightly what it cost Him. And never assume that if it cost Him His very life, that it won't also cost you yours.
  • So go out and live real good and I promise you'll get beat up real bad. But, in a little while after you're dead, you'll be rotted away anyway. It's not gonna matter if you have a few scars. It will matter if you didn't live.
  • It's so funny being a Christian musician. It always scares me when people think so highly of Christian music, Contemporary Christian music especially. Because I kinda go, I know a lot of us, and we don't know jack about anything. Not that I don't want you to buy our records and come to our concerts. I sure do. But you should come for entertainment. If you really want spiritual nourishment, you should go to church...you should read the Scriptures.
  • I had a prof one time... He said, "Class, you will forget almost everything I will teach you in here, so please remember this: that God spoke to Balaam through his ass, and He has been speaking through asses ever since. So, if God should choose to speak through you, you need not think too highly of yourself. And, if on meeting someone, right away you recognize what they are, listen to them anyway."
  • I’m all the time being asked by people, ‘How do ya feel closer to God.’ And I kinda always want to say ‘I don’t know.’ When I read the lives of most of the great saints they didn’t necessarily feel very close to God. When I read the Psalms I get the feeling like David and the other Psalmists felt quite far away from God for most of the time. Closeness to God is not about feelings, closeness to God is about obedience… I don’t know how you feel close to God. And no one I know that seems to be close to God knows anything about those feelings either. I know if we obey occasionally the feeling follows, not always, but occasionally. I know that if we disobey we don’t have a shot at it.
  • That’s one of the things I love about being single, everybody always goes ‘Oh, you’re single what a tragedy.’ And I go ‘Well, yeah, from about ten to two each evening it is a tragedy but that times a tragedy for most married people as well.’ One of the great advantages of being single is you can still pick up hitch hikers, if you are married you don’t want to get, you know, slit or anything, cause you have a family to support. If you single and you die it doesn’t really matter so you are free to do what you really want to do. I love that!
  • It starts off so beautifully and then at the end of that Psalm, the last verse of that Psalm is “How very blessed is the man who dashes the little one’s heads against the rocks.” This is not the sort of scripture you read at a pro-life meeting. But it’s in there none the less. Which is the thing about the Bible that’s why it always cracks me up when people say ‘Well in Dududududududududududududu it says’ you kinda go ‘Wow it says a lot of things in there.’ Proof texting is a very dangerous thing. I think if we were given the scriptures it was not so that we could prove that we were right about everything. If we were given the scriptures it was to humble us into realizing that God is right and the rest of us are just guessing. Which is what makes them so much fun to read, especially if you are not a fundamentalist.
  • And this is what I have come to think: That if I want to identify fully with Jesus Christ, whom I claim to be my Savior and Lord the best way that I can do that is to identify with the poor. This I know will go against the teachings of all the popular evangelical preachers. But they’re just wrong. They’re not bad, they’re just wrong. Christianity is not about building an absolutely secure little niche in the world where you can live with your perfect little wife and your perfect little children in your beautiful little house where you have no gays or minority groups anywhere near you. Christianity is about learning to love like Jesus loved and Jesus loved the poor and Jesus loved the broken.
  • Bear in mind, children, that they listen to you because you are kids—not because you are right. That's how our Father listens to us ... We never understand what we're praying, and God, in His mercy, does not answer our prayers according to our understanding, but according to His wisdom.
  • Yes, it's embarrassing to be born again, but imagine how embarrassing it must have been to be born the first time. At least this time you get to wear clothes!
  • We are not saved because we're good. We're good because we're saved.

[edit] Unsourced

  • If you've ever known the love of God, you know it's nothing but reckless and it's nothing but raging. Sometimes it hurts to be loved, and if it doesn't hurt it's probably not love, may be infatuation. I think a lot of American people are infatuated with God, but we don't really love Him, and they don't really let Him love them. Being loved by God is one of the most painful things in the world, it's also the only thing that can bring us salvation and it's like everything else that is really wonderful, there's a little bit of pain in it, little bit of hurt.
  • It's just that for so many people that I know, Christianity's this matter of ... it has everything to do with morals. Christianity is a religion about morals. And they will even talk about Jesus. And they will say kids need to know about Jesus so they won't smoke, drink, or dance, or go with girls that do, and all that kind of thing. And I kinda go, "That's not why people need to know about Jesus. The only reason—the only possible excuse for talking about Jesus is because we need a Savior."
  • I am a Christian, not because someone explained the nuts and bolts of Christianity to me, but because there were people willing to be nuts and bolts.
  • If you want a religion that makes sense, go somewhere else. But if you want a religion that makes life, choose Christianity.
  • You guys are all into that born again thing, which is great. We do need to be born again, since Jesus said that to a guy named Nicodemus. But if you tell me I have to be born again to enter the kingdom of God, I can tell you that you just have to sell everything you have and give it to the poor, because Jesus said that to one guy too…[And he paused in the awkward silence.] But I guess that’s why God invented highlighters, so we can highlight the parts we like and ignore the rest

Ragamuffin Memory....

Oct. 21, 1955 - Sept. 19, 1997

Ragamuffin Memory

He walked onto the stage
Of an Omaha church
In faded blue jeans
And an old flannel shirt
His smile lit the place as
He said "hello"
I was glad to be there
That night for the show
What I heard next
I'd been longing to find
A word of grace spoken
He was one-of-a-kind
Heaven's angels were singing
Through this one lone voice
And I knew Someone Higher
Played a part in my choice
To go hear a singer I didn't know
Yet I was glad to be there
That night for the show
As a dulcimer chimed
And the music grew loud
A holy hush filled the room
And grace touched the crowd
I knew then that this was
More than a show
And I'll always thank God
Who allowed me to go
To hear you sing
From God's heart, Rich,

And this much I know
You showed Jesus to us
You didn't "put on a show"

© susie melkus
08.28.99
Dedicated to the "ragamuffin memory" of
Richard Wayne Mullins

I can't believe it's been 10 years...God rest your soul...

"If there's a better song writer in Christendom, I don't know who it is." Rick Elias (Paraphrased as best as I recall from the video, Homeless Man, Sarah and I watched Saturday.)

I wholeheartedly agree with Rick's assessment of his friend, and brother in Christ. I've never been to a concert before or after Rich's that so moved me. In the depths of my soul I was touched that night in a most powerful way. Rich came to Nebraska and my husband and I went to see him here at a Bellevue Christian fellowship, Feb 14, 1997. Just 7 months before he was killed, I saw a man who glowed with the love of Christ, on a little stage in Omaha. God truly had his Hand on this man from day one. I'd only come back to the Lord a few months earlier from being lost in mortal sin. Though I wasn't yet a fully converted Catholic until 2004, the "Catholic heart" of this man, drew me toward Home without me even realizing it. A "Baptism of Desire" is what I think Rich Mullins experienced fully 10 years ago on that fateful night. He was the most Catholic non-Catholic person I "knew." Yes, God rest your troubadour heart, Rich. And say hi to Saint Francis for me and give him a hug for me, too, for being so influential in your life. You can tell what a man is like by the company he keeps, and you were drawn to St Francis so deeply while here.... it showed. To all the Kid Bros of St. Frank, God bless and keep you, too. ~ susie




Birth name Richard Wayne Mullins
Born October 21, 1955(1955-10-21)
Origin Richmond, Indiana
Died September 19, 1997 (aged 41)
Genre(s) Contemporary Christian
Occupation(s) singer/songwriter
Instrument(s) piano, guitar, hammered dulcimer
Years active 1981 - 1997
Label(s) Reunion Records
Associated
acts A Ragamuffin Band
Website www.kidbrothers.net

Richard Wayne Mullins (October 21, 1955 – September 19, 1997) was an American Christian music singer and songwriter born in Richmond, Indiana. He died in an automobile accident in September of 1997.

Mullins is best known for his praise choruses "Awesome God" and "Step by Step", which have been embraced as modern classics by many Christians. Some of his albums are also considered among Christian music's best, including Winds of Heaven, Stuff of Earth (1988), The World As Best As I Remember It, Volume One (1991) and A Liturgy, A Legacy, & A Ragamuffin Band (1993). His music has been covered by many artists, including Caedmon's Call, Five Iron Frenzy, Amy Grant, Jars of Clay, Michael W. Smith, John Tesh, and Third Day.

Rich Mullins is also warmly remembered for his sincere devotion to the Christian faith, which was often an inspiration to others. He was heavily influenced by St. Francis of Assisi (1181-1226). In 1997, he composed a musical called Canticle of the Plains, a retelling of the life of St. Francis set in the Old West.
Contents
[hide]

* 1 Life
* 2 Music career
* 3 Death and legacy
* 4 Discography
* 5 Awards
* 6 Further reading
* 7 External links

[edit] Life

Rich Mullins grew up attending Arba Friends Meeting, a Quaker church in Lynn, Indiana [1]. The Quaker testimonies of peace and social justice later inspired many of his lyrics.

In 1975 Mullins attended Cincinnati Bible College. In the 1980s he moved to Nashville, Tennessee to begin his professional recording career.

In 1988 Mullins moved to Wichita, Kansas where, in 1991, he enrolled as a student at Friends University. He graduated with a B.A. in Music Education on May 14, 1995 [2]. After graduation, he and Mitch McVicker moved to a reservation in Tse Bonito, New Mexico to teach music to children. They lived in a hogan at the reservation until his death.

The profits from his tours and the sale of each album went to his church, which divided it up, paid Mullins a small salary, and gave the rest to charity. Mullins was also a major supporter of Compassion International and Compassion USA.

[edit] Music career

As a musician, Mullins was primarily a pianist, but he showed a prodigious talent for unusual instruments. He was an expert player of the hammered dulcimer, lap dulcimer and the Irish tin whistle. Examples of this can be heard in Mullins' songs "Calling Out Your Name," "Creed," "Boy Like Me/Man Like You" and "The Color Green." Mullins' compositions were distinctive in two ways: unusual and sometimes striking instrumentation, and highly poetic lyrics that usually employed complex metaphors.

Mullins began his musical career with Zion Ministries in the late 1970s, where he wrote music and performed with a band called Zion. The band released one album in 1981 entitled Behold the Man. While working for this ministry, Mullins penned a song called "Sing Your Praise To The Lord", which was recorded by singer Amy Grant in 1982 and became an immediate hit on Christian Radio. In 1983 Debby Boone recorded Mullins' "O Come All Ye Faithful" for her Surrender album. In 1984 the song was also featured in a TV movie called Sins of the Past.

In 1986 Rich Mullins released his eponymous debut album, followed in 1987 by Pictures in the Sky. Neither album sold very well, but the Christian radio hit "Awesome God" on his third album, Winds of Heaven, Stuff of Earth, brought his music to a wider audience.

In the early 1990s Mullins released a pair of albums entitled The World As Best As I Remember It, Volume One and Two. These albums featured more of a stripped-back, acoustic feel than his earlier work, with nods to Irish music. "Step By Step", a song written by good friend Beaker and included on both volumes in different versions, became an instant hit on Christian Radio, and, like "Awesome God", it became a popular praise chorus.

In 1993 Mullins assembled a group of Nashville musicians (including Jimmy Abegg, Beaker, Phil Madeira, Rick Elias, and Aaron Smith) to form A Ragamuffin Band, whose name was inspired by the Christian book The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning. The band recorded A Liturgy, a Legacy, & a Ragamuffin Band, which was later named the #3 best Christian Album of All time by CCM Magazine. Liturgy was a concept album that drew its inspiration, in part, from the Roman Catholic liturgy. The Ragamuffins also appeared on Mullin's 1995 record Brother's Keeper.

In 1997 Mullins teamed up with Beaker and Mitch McVicker to write a musical based on the life of St. Francis of Assisi, entitled The Canticle of the Plains. Mullins had great respect for St. Francis, and even formed "The Kid Brothers of St. Frank" in the late 1980s with several friends.

[edit] Death and legacy

Mullins was killed in a car accident on September 19, 1997. He and his friend Mitch McVicker were traveling on I-39 north of Bloomington, Illinois to a benefit concert in Wichita, Kansas when his Jeep flipped over. Neither man wore a seat belt. Both were thrown from the vehicle. A passing tractor-trailer swerving to avoid the Jeep killed Mullins. McVicker was badly injured but survived.

His funeral was open to the public and had a massive gathering. He was buried alongside his baby brother who died as an infant and his father in Hollansburg, Ohio.[3]

Shortly before his death, Mullins had been working on his next project, which was to be a concept album based on the life of Jesus Christ and was to be called "Ten Songs About Jesus". On September 10, 1997, nine days before his death, he made a rough micro cassette recording of the album's songs in an abandoned church. This tape was released as disc 1 of The Jesus Record, which featured new recordings of the songs on disc 2 by the Ragamuffin Band, with guest vocalists Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith, Ashley Cleveland, and Phil Keaggy.

Mullins' family founded The Legacy Of A Kid Brother Of St. Frank to continue his mission to develop programs of art, drama and music camps for Native American youth and provide a traveling music school serving remote areas of the reservations. Today it is administered by Alyssa Loukota and Tammy Pruitt.

Friday, September 07, 2007

THROUGH FATHER'S EYES...

 
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BY THE WAY...this would be a GREAT Christmas gift for anyone who loves photography. Please consider purchasing one or two. You'll be helping Catholic Charities of Youngstown Ohio, and other good services in the community. Also, helping to fund the Father Kevin Memorial Chapel would be a wonderful thing for us all to do. He did much for so many, this is the least we can do for a holy man and a holy priest forever. PLEASE READ POST and info BELOW...Thanks everyone. God bless.

Father we love you and Father Kevin, pray for us.

Last post for a while...This is for my beloved Fr. Kevin Fete

Friday, July 13, 2007
Walsh hosts July 19 opening for late priest�s photo book

NORTH CANTON � Walsh University is hosting the opening of the late Father Kevin L. Fete�s photo book, �Through Father�s Eyes,� 6-9 p.m. July 19 in the Barrette Business and Community Center on campus. The book showcases the priest�s large format black-and-white photography from trips to Africa, the Holy Land, Egypt, Rome and various regions of the United States. The event is free and open to the public.

Copies of �Through Father�s Eyes� will be on sale during the opening, and there will also be a large display of Father Fete�s original black and white photography. Proceeds from the book sales will benefit the six Catholic high schools in the Youngstown Diocese, Catholic Charities of Stark County, Community Services of Stark County and the Fr. Kevin L. Fete Memorial Chapel Fund.

Father Fete served as pastor of Middlebranch Little Flower Parish from 1996 to 2006 and as administrator of Rootstown St. Peter of the Fields Parish from 2005 to 2006. His two assignments prior to Little Flower were associate pastor of St. Paul Parish, North Canton, and St. Edward Parish, Youngstown. Father Fete was an adjunct professor at Walsh University. He died of kidney cancer at the age of 48 on July 23, 2006.

Information: Michele Schafer at 330-490-7344, or Ray Fete at 330-833-8516.

PLEASE to all my friends in the blogosphere, I ask that you'll consider buying this lovely photo book. For $38.00 it's a steal! It could and should easily be $50.00! It's a powerful collection of glimpses of the world as Father Kevin saw it. Through his eyes you'll see what "caught his eye," and the photos are nothing less than simply stunning. I especially like that they're black/white. It's somehow more gripping...more haunting and more depth, than color ones would have been. THANK YOU ALL for your prayers for this endeavor to help the Youngstown diocese and Father's charities. Bless you all.

PAX,
susie

Wednesday, September 05, 2007

BLOGfast...please don't forget me...okay?


Well, it's done and time to call it a day here at RECONnecting to the Truth. I've pondered this off and on for a while and it seems that it's time to stop blogging. Not sure how long the interim will last. It's up to God. BUT folks, if I were to spend 1/10 the time in front of the Blessed Sacrament at our lovely Adoration chapel that's there for us 24/7 as I do in front of this computer, I might have a glowing face of a saint by now. Not that the "glowing face" is my aim, but you know what I mean.

I've not made a solid commitment to ever give Jesus a Holy Hour during the week, but I've been tapping at this machine constantly at all hours and sometimes it seems frivolous. I've only gone to Adore my Lord when "it fits my schedule" which ends up being "not very often" if at all. It's time for me to 'leave what I love" for something and SOMEONE more demanding of my love. He's calling me to come away with Him. My Heavenly Husband is calling me, and I must go to Him. I'm going to find this so dang hard, extremely hard, but I've got to offer up the pain for the poor souls and the souls of our holy priests. If I don't get back to blogging, it was a fun ride. If I do...see ya later.

Please don't give up on me. Email me, okay TJ? I'll be e-mailing as usual, but this blogging stuff has got to cease. It's only because it's ONE THING I can suffer and offer to God that is really going to hurt. I don't watch t.v. I don't dance, I don't bar hop, I don't putter in the yard, nothing like that. But I DO NEED to read more. I just can't blog and read nearly as much as I long to, and the Saints are waiting for me. A whole world beyond the veil of my beloved BIG bros and sisters is waiting for me. I need to learn from them. I need to read the present day anointed writers who can steer me in the best direction.

God bless all of you. Thanks to all of you for coming by and do keep me in prayer. I'll need it. This is going to be very hard. But it's something I MUST do for the LOVER of my soul. It's for the best for me and my soul. Believe me, it already hurts. I'm reading Story of a Soul right now, and I know St. Therese and I have so much to learn about each other. She has much to say to me, and I have much to learn from her. This is killing me. This has been the most amazing creative outlet for me, but if I can't give this up for Jesus, then I'm only kidding myself about giving up anything else for Him, I have to be brutally honest. It's almost become another thing to have 'angst' about and that's not a good thing.

Just last week, I never thought I'd be typing this but God has a way of shaking one loose from EVERYTHING, and it's called ABANDONMENT. Read Story of a Soul and you'll know what I mean. Who knows, maybe after a week I'll be given the leeway to come back, or maybe I won't but I have to be obedient to my Lord, not my 'wants' and my will. Maybe, God willing I can post something only once a week or every 2 weeks or once a month. I'll have to seek God about this. I can't quit forever, and I think He understands that plea from my heart, but this daily habit is one that has to go, straight to His feet and I need to rise up and go wherever else He wants me to go.

God be with all of you.

PAX,
susie

He kissed the Cross at the end...



This is an essay by Mike Aquilina on Jack Kerouac. I'm not a scholar of the 'Beat generation" writers as is my brother. I found this essay by Mike Aquilina compelling. I sent it to my brother, who's "into" JK and others. It seems, or at least I pray, that he [Jack] did kiss that Cross, that he did indeed find peace for his deeply disturbed and troubled soul. I pray he did kiss that crucifix at the end of his life, and that God finally did reveal to Jack His Holy Face. I hope Jack received the divine mercy and grace of God at his death. God rest your soul, Jack.

And to you my reader(s) please say a prayer for my beloved brother. It seems he's traveling the same path as so many of these men, these 'beat guys' did. The peace he seeks and those like him quite obviously isn't found in the bottle, or the drugs or the promiscuous sex. Peace is only found in, by and through the Prince of Peace. I pray that he and others on that broad highway that so allures all of us, and seems to grasp more tightly to some, will see the Catholic Churches on the side of the road and go in and find Life, Peace, and Hope for their troubled, disturbed souls. Life's too short to wander aimlessly...to "fall in love with only the search" and keep refusing to receive God's magnanimous grace. We must let ourselves be found (in humility) by the Searcher of our hearts and souls, for He made us and knows us by name and by heart and loves us with a passion beyond our wildest dreams.

PAX,
susie

Monday, September 03, 2007




O Jesus, Eternal Priest;
keep all Your priests within the shelter of Your
Sacred Heart, where none may harm them.
Keep unstained their anointed hands
which daily touch Your Sacred Body.

Keep unsullied their lips purpled with Your Precious Blood.
Keep pure and unearthly their hearts sealed with the
sublime marks of Your glorious priesthood.
Let Your holy love surround them and shield them
from the world's contagion.

Bless their labors with abundant fruit,
and may the souls to whom they have ministered to
be their joy and consolation
and in Heaven their beautiful and everlasting crown.

O Mary, Queen of the clergy, pray for us;
obtain for us many holy priests.

Amen.

http://artfiles.art.com/images/-/Sacred-Heart-of-Jesus-Print-C10055198.jpeg

Please visit

Reply to a mom concerned for her adult kids...

A mom on CHNIforums queried how to talk to her 33 year old son, and asked for advice, since he isn't getting TRUTH from friends, or girl friend etc. This is part of my reply to her:

What I do is go to many Catholic blogs, and send them a blog or website now and then. I find interesting things on the internet such as "Theology on Tap" in both Dallas and Denver where my boys live, (sending it to them) and HOPE they might find it worth checking into, where they can go and be anonymous and just have a beer/ dinner and listen to a talk and perhaps ask some questions in a real down-to-earth manner, not "formal class" structure and just see where God may lead them from there. I sure wish there'd have been such a thing as that when I was in my 20's and 30's! We'd already left the CC and were in a Pentecostal/Evangelical world then...and our kids though baptized as Catholics never had ANY formation or teaching in the Church. We're answering for many a blunder, but yet, we were only doing what we thought to be best at the time, selfish as I was to go searching for the JESUS PEOPLE type church, when JESUS was and is always RIGHT THERE in the tabernacle 24/7! DOH!

Our sons and daughter-in-law seem to be watching us from afar, and Justin and I have had some nice conversations on the phone...just telling him what I do, which is always involving something "Catholic" as I volunteer at KVSS and the Holy Family Shrine, it's my LIFE and he always seems to be glad to hear how happy and content I am now. I think both of them were too smart and knew too much history to ever be content in the Evangelical fray. I was too, but just didn't think the old stodgy Catholic Church had the "answer!" NOT that Evangelicals aren't smart, please, I don't mean that at all. It's just so many upstart churches, and the "pat answer" mentality that sometimes comes through 'hard core' is just something my boys never "bought." Justin especially is much more inclined NOW I think to see that 'were at least in a HISTORICALLY ACCURATE place....you know? He had a minor in history and I think he respects the Catholic Church much more than these little independent offshoots of offshoots of offshoots...that just start with a guy (or gal) and her bible!

I've rambled and probably not offered much advice. I'm just praying to St Monica, and my dear Fr. Kevin to storm heaven for our boys, and St Justin and St Stephen (our son Steve's intercessor) and St Therese for our DIL, Jill. Pray pray pray, it sounds cliche, but it's the most powerful thing we can do, and to ask our "heavenly prayer chain" to intercede is BIG BIG help! I know they need to hear truth, but right now, it's not so much what I'll ever SAY to them, as more importantly just LIVING IT OUT (IN and WITH JOY) for them to "taste and see"...and when they ever hit the wall, or the bottom....they WILL KNOW where and to WHOM they should turn. I know they're in God's hands and there's no more capable hands in which to place them. PLUS, OUR LADY's mantle and arm are very long....she's the one that got my husband and me back so I know she'll not fail to nudge them and tug them along, too!

Hope there was something in there to give you some encouragement. I try. I cry and I pray. That's all God expects us to do.

Sunday, September 02, 2007

And this is the last music post of my schizo Sunday music fest...

Van and the Chieftains.... sorry if this is TOO Schizo...

Ziggy and the Chieftains....

Schizo Sunday music fest....Ziggy to the Rat Pack...wow

I'm all over the place today...I don't like a style, I like it all (except "most" rap)

It's a kick in the head alright...

Dean, Duke and Ricky...and Walter...

This is just great. Ricky Nelson, my old heart throb! And the Duke...and Dean. FYI: The Duke had a deathbed conversion to Catholicism, isn't that wonderful? God rest your precious souls. Soothing song. Makes me wanna get in the RAV and head west, to the Sand Hills of Nebraska.

Moon River....

Just in a music mood, a classic music mood today. Love ya "Blue eyes."

Long as I'm into the dance and musicals... Another fav...

Heaven....I'm in heaven...



I just watched this on t.v. I absolutely love Fred Astaire. This is the best kind of Sunday movie. (this or Hitchcock. I'm pretty eclectic in my movie preferences.) Nothing beats a classic b & w movie, a beer and a few chips and dip. God rest his precious dancing soul. What a talent. What a guy. What a real "STAR." and as for Ginger...well, she was the epitome of class, AND had to do everything Fred did backwards, in HIGH HEELS! They don't make 'em like this anymore.

Two souls full of love...

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Healing hands....



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Face of grace...

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These eyes saw more pain and suffering....

than mine will probably ever see. God give me sacramental eyes to see with the compassion and gentle tenderness others who for whatever reason are forsaken by society, and left all alone with illness or mental anguish. May I begin to really see with the same love what these precious eyes saw, these eyes saw Christ in all people, the great and the small.

JMJ

JPII kissing the blessed head of Mother Teresa...

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From the same news segment on The World Over. Isn't this just precious?

Praying for souls....




This is why I like digital cameras.

Got this off the t.v.

She had no consolations from God for 40 years.
Teach me to pray and not seek the gifts,
but the GIVER only.

Pray for us, Blessed Mother Teresa!

Gotta Serve Somebody...


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Rev. John A. Hardon, SJ, explains the need for prayers for priests in the forward of this collection of prayers for priests, written by various saints, popes, and cardinals.

Holy priest in a small town near Omaha....

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This is a holy man, a holy priest who loves Truth, Sacred Tradition, Our Lady and Holy Mother Church. Meet Fr. Vandewalle. I've been blessed and grateful to have met him over the past 2 years as I attend my adopted "sister parish" St. Joseph, in Colon NE.
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I cherish his friendship now. His homilies "rock" too! He's so funny, witty, and subtly his wisdom and insight come through and keeps the listener listening. A gift from God and so pleasantly shared with others through his priestly heart and soul so joyfully lived out in his life.
I wish you could all visit his parish and be as blessed as I am so often. He is in the wonderful Lincoln NE diocese. The support system of the many fine priests in that diocese is phenomenal and the joy with which they live out their faith is extraordinary. He gave me almost 2 hours of his precious time last Sunday! We had the most delightful conversation. I took him a chicken dinner from Bakers (Omaha supermarket) deli and he was so appreciative. He said he'd have to save it for Monday night as he was going out with some friends just after we visited. He kindly listened to me talk about our journey Home to Rome, jotting books down and other information that came to him while we were talking. He also gave me some suggestions for another friend, Fr. G. who's struggling with 'small town parish' politics. Pray for our priests. They need good support from other confrères and as I posted a while back, they need Veronicas and Simons in their midst to help them on their difficult path to join Christ at Calvary, to die... spending and consuming themselves for souls.

As Our Blessed Mother's heart breaks for her priests, who are struggling, she also gives them courage and graces them to press on with fortitude. They need to be reminded to consecrate themselves to Our Mother. To not let anger, frustration or fear get a foothold. Many are under attack, and it's mostly (and very sadly) by their own flocks. This needs to be addressed and the flocks need to realize what their harsh and critical words can do to the heart and soul of their shepherds. I've been sharing in the heartache with our Blessed Mother the past 4 weeks or so. It has been a emotional roller coaster of sorts, so much sorrow and yet the most profound joy in the midst of it.

Just yesterday at the Holy Family Shrine we started a 'once a month' Mass and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament/Benediction for vocations and for priests that will be the first Saturday of the month with a priest or deacon giving us our Lord in exposition. This is for the youth in Catholic High schools across the metro area and will be a year of intense prayer for them, so that the vocation of priesthood can be explained to them, as well as educating the parents of young boys to encourage them in helping their sons to consider the priesthood. So many parents are ill informed and what with the scandal, the priesthood is under such attack that many are not willing to help their sons even consider that God may be calling them to be holy priests.

Pray with us, when the first Saturday comes around, that Our Lady will inflame our hearts with a love for priests and a desire to see vocations to the priesthood flourish among the hearts of our young boys and young men. Pray that the call to serve our Lord as his priests will grow. Pray that Omaha and surrounding areas (and your city) will become a well-spring of seminarians in love with Holy Mother Church and will spread that love to their parishes and bring many lost souls back to the safety of the Catholic Church.

Fr. Andrew Sohm who said Mass yesterday has been burdened for some time to see this action come to fruition, and now with our Holy Family Shrine and Our Lady's presence there, as well as Papa JPII's, he's seeing it start. We're not to be concerned right now about 'technicalities' and 'what to do' but we're to just be PRAYING, to be in PRAYER for one year, fervent diligent prayer. This prayer from a few committed prayer warriors will be the basis and foundation that will then be the fecund ground where a "garden of fertile hearts" in our boys and young adult men will blossom. Growing in understanding as they will then seek, and answer the call of God in, on and for their lives. And one day, there will be many more like Fr. Vandewalle serving the Lord as faithful, holy priests hand picked by Jesus himself! A priest forever in the line of Melchizedek.

Thanks everyone.

susie



St. Louis de Montfort's Prayer to Mary

Hail Mary, beloved Daughter of the Eternal Father. Hail Mary, admirable Mother of the Son. Hail Mary, faithful Spouse of the Holy Ghost. Hail Mary, my Mother, my loving Mistress, my powerful sovereign. Hail, my joy, my glory, my heart and my soul. Thou art all mine by mercy, and I am thine by justice. But I am not yet sufficiently thine. I now give myself wholly to thee without keeping anything back for myself or others. If thou seest anything in me which does not belong to thee, I beseech thee to take it and make thyself the absolute Mistress of all that is mine.

Destroy in me all that may displease God; root it up and bring it to nought. Place and cultivate in me everything that is pleasing to thee. May the light of thy faith dispel the darkness of my mind. May thy profound humility take the place of my pride; may thy sublime contemplation check the distractions of my wandering imagination. May the continuous sight of God fill my memory with His Presence; may the burning love of thy heart inflame the lukewarmness of mine. May thy virtues take the place of my sins; may thy merits be my only adornment in the sight of God and make up for all that is wanting in me. Finally, dearly beloved Mother, grant, if it be possible, that I may have no other spirit but thine to know Jesus, and His Divine Will; that I may have no other soul but thinke to praise and glorify God; that I may have no other heart but thine to love God with a love as pure and ardent as thine.

I do not ask thee for visions, revelations, sensible devotions, or spiritual pleasures. It is thy privilege to see God clearly, it is thy privilege to enjoy heavenly bliss; it is thy privilege to triumph gloriously in heaven at the right hand of thy Son and to hold absolute sway over angels, men, and demons.

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It is thy privilege to dispose of all the gifts of God, just as thou willest. Such, O heavenly Mary, the 'best part', which the Lord has given thee, and which shall never be taken away from thee--and this thought fills my heart with joy. As for my part here below, I wish for no other than that which was thine, to believe sincerely without spiritual pleasures, to suffer joyfully without human consolation, to die continually to myself without respite, and to work zealously and unselfishly for thee until death, as the humblest of thy servants. The only grace I beg thee, for me, is that every moment of the day, and every moment of my life, I may say, "Amen, so be it, to all that thou art doing in heaven. Amen, so be it, to all thou didst do while on earth. Amen, so be it, to all thou art doing in my soul," so that thou alone mayest fully glorify Jesus in me for time and eternity. Amen.