Are you a mouse or a man? (for women too)

This is an excellent article on Catholic Culture.

Email I sent to a few before Thanksgiving...

I'm not doing this with any sort of self-promotion on my part, but having heard from two people who appreciated this email I thought I would post it. I sent this out to some friends (a few who are Evangelical Protestants) who I think just don't know "what to do with me" anymore. (I guess silence from them is better than an argument, which is not my aim and never has been) but anyway, I did hear back from Fr. Felix, the most kind and wonderful words of encouragement! Thank you Fr. Felix, you are so full of joy! You radiate Christ like no one I know. Even though I only just met you in September, I feel like we've known each other for years. That, my friends, is the TRUE BOND of the EUCHARIST!

Peace to all.

susie

Below my email is Fr. Felix's gracious email message to me. This made my day as you can imagine! Thank you Father...I love you and you ROCK!

Tim Staples was at KVSS Thursday, Nov 15, on the Spirit Morning Show with Kris and Bruce. I left work early that day to meet him in the a.m. after the broadcast and he was phenomenal! He stayed around and talked with a small group of us about so many things, and then we gave him the tour of the studio and then I got to drive him to the airport, which was a plus for me! More time to visit! He's a great guy, so humble and so very knowledgeable. I'm sending along the link to the interview. He and I have similar stories as far as being converts to the Catholic Church, but that's about where it stops, as I was never a buff Marine! ; ) ha ha

Some wonder how it is Rich and I could have left the wonderful Evangelical fellowship we were involved with for so long, almost 3 years ago now, (Dec 8) and I have to say, it's not about leaving what we were as much as it has been about becoming MORE Evangelical than we ever were! It's been a fulfillment of all he and I had embraced during our 26 year wanderings, and I can only remember Pastor Les Beachamp's most kind and generous letter of blessing that he wrote us after reading the letter we'd sent him when we had been gone for about 9 months. It was always my heart to let him know and after that amount of time had passed, it was the only the right thing to do, for Trinity had been our home for almost 14 years. Anyway, whoever said the oft quoted "You can't go back home" wasn't speaking the truth. Yes, you can! We did! And the beautiful thing is, we've never been more at peace and have never been more on the same page, spiritually, than we are now.

After my pilgrimage to Rome in May, it's been more evident than ever, how good it is to come back down that long and winding road and see the "light on in the window." I've been fondly remembering of late what my dear Mom (God rest her precious soul) was saying to Ora Fowler, our dear neighbor in Cairo, NE. as she was waving goodbye to me when I'd left to go to Minnesota (back in 1975) to go to a Catholic conference with a car load of friends. She said, "Well, there goes my little Catholic!" How right you were, Mom! I know now what a prophetic statement that was. ha ha : )

It took me a long time to see the light re: the CC and to understand the Truth about the CC, because when we'd left I didn't know diddly about the Church and yet thought I knew everything, like most 20 somethings, I was a tad arrogant as well as ignorant. What I knew,however, I'd only heard from disgruntled ex-Catholics or Protestants who really had only heard what they'd heard for years most of which was misinformation based on falsehoods passed on for generations by folks who simply didn't know, or were 'hellbent' on proclaiming falsehood for whatever biased reasons they may have had.

Now I love the Catholic faith and I would venture to say that I know why so many died for the Church and the Eucharist over the years, since the beginning, but only now. I never knew before, because I was indeed ignorant, but all I can say is Keith Green (God rest his soul) wasn't the one I should have been listening to to learn about the CC. I'm sorry that I was so enchanted and swayed so much by his anti-Catholic tracts all those years ago. It did more harm than good, but God brought good from it, as He is faithful to do! God did indeed lead us to all the places we found ourselves, in some great fellowships, etc. over those many years, and glad that there was always enough of the Truth to keep me so hungry for more.

People really can only know someone or something best from someone else who KNOWS them or that something. I wouldn't want to learn Shakespeare from someone who has no clue about who he was, and never read any of his work. Stick with what you know...a good philosophy! When the misinformed teach the misled a lot of misinformed misled folk are left running about passing on more misinformation and that's not a good thing. Confusion and misinformation isn't of God. But the journey was a good one, all in all, even if the wild ride got pretty wild. It was God indeed guiding us to where He longed for us to finally be. Back Home. Rome Sweet Home, that is. (a great book btw, and available on www.amazon.com)

The interview from Thursday is the top link I've included. More about Tim is found on the link below it.

I hope you'll find a time to listen to the interview. Rich and I hope you all have a blessed Thanksgiving Holiday with family and friends.

Safe travels and may the peace of Christ be with you!

Rich and Susie


http://www.spiritcatholicradio.com/interviews/Tim%20Staples.m3u

http://www.catholic.com/seminars/staples.asp

Father's Email

Hello, Susie,

I wanted to let you know how moved and touched I have been by your letter below. What a strong witnessing to the Truth that no one can refute (as we read in one of last weekday Mass readings). I want to tell you that when a person like yourself speak the truths of the Catholic Church, everybody listens. If I were the one to say what you said, it would sound like I am biased or self-righteous. You have got to know that (just as you said) you have been called by name by the Lord himself; and for a reason---the very reason I have just pointed out---that when you speak---all listen. I read your letter twice and each time I savor the sweetness of the message, the witnessing. I hope you don't mind, because I have just sent it to my sister-in-law. Recently she is on fire with spiritual life. She goes to Mass daily now. She seeks spiritual life aids, such as the rosary, Scott Hahn's books. She surfs the EWTN. Once in a while she comes up with a question for me to answer it for her. It's not all the same for my other family members. They are dead Catholics walking. I am confident they will come back around. They take their Catholic Faith for granted. They think it's a play thing. So, I thought I might blow my sister-in-law's faith embers the more by sharing your letter with her.

Thank you for what you are doing. Thank you for your honesty. Thank you for your passion. Thank you for your enthusiasm. Thank you for you bravery.

I have just listened to the Catholic Answers Radio interview with Tim Staples. It is just amasing how the Lord calls his own people to the Catholic Church. It is clear by their journey how only the Lord was behind their coming to the Catholic Church. Tim's journey to even go to the Seminary was the Lord's way of preparing him for the Radio ministry he is doing now. It was to fill his tank with Philosophy and Sacred Theology to arm him for the battle. Thank you for sharing him with me. I could otherwise not realise or even know about him. I didn't even know the explosion of Catholic radios all around the country. This indeed is an campaign on our culture going bad, as he describes it: "Look-out culture, here we come". I didn't know about St. John Chrysostom's "Lions Breathing Fire" phrase. St. Chrysostom is my favorite said.

May God continue to bless you, Susie.

And Father's very thoughtful "addendum"


Oh! almost forgot to say this. I think you ought to appear on EWTN, Journey Home program. If Marcus doesn't invite you, I think you should be the one to initiate it. You have a story to tell the world. You have the truth to tell the world. I am mostly moved by your words that only people who know the truth, should be authorized to teach others about it, not to propagate lies, thus deceiving innocent people, confusing people's minds. People are entitled to knowing the truth, and nothing but the truth. No one is entitled to misinformation or distorted truths. We don't like when the media distort and twist truths about the politians. It is most certainly deplorable to mis-inform the public, especially taking their minds and hearts from the Church of Jesus Christ. You can tell that the Devil is at work behind the scenes of defections and churches breaking apart. He has infiltrated the Catholic Church and other churches, to drive people away from the church of our Lord Jesus Christ. I don't see how else to interpret what happened at the Reformation and has been happening over and over since; with churches breaking up over and over and over like cells mitosizing; only that they are not connected to each other after breaking up. So, they don't form the organic body.


Felix

Aw...this is a happy little video... God rest J's and G's souls.

Pray for Paul and Ringo, too.

Thank you Marie and Ginny...

Emmanuel Award

I was honored by my friends 'down under' with this award and ask you to please visit their blog and say "hi" and "Merry CHRISTmas!" That's right folks CHRISTmass is the MEANING of Christmas. Not tinsel and mistletoe and a gazillion toys and packages under a tree. Let's let Christ be center of HIS BIRTHDAY, okay? Don't be so driven this year by the consumerism and materialism that we are bombarded with for the next few weeks. Let us enjoy Advent and the coming of Christ into our hearts and our homes and our relationships. Let gratitude reign instead of "get me" "buy me" "return me for another size, color, or something else." Go to Adoration as often as possible this Advent and let Jesus love you, hold you and change you into the person He died to help you become and let the True Star of Bethlehem, the Bright Morning Star shine in your hearts throughout the entire holiday, (HOLYday) and more and more the coming year.

PAX to all my Catholic bloggin' pals,
susie

The River Knows Your Name...

This is my first YOU TUBE video attempt. I'd appreciate any input from my on line pals. When you watch, please pray for my friend, Father G. and all of our wonderful, holy priests who are ''spending and consuming themselves for souls" and being attacked from all sides because of it.

These are photos of my recent junket to Wisconsin, in October '07 to visit Fr. G. There are two photos from the Tiber River from the pilgrimage to Rome in May with Scott Hahn and Mike Aquilina, where Father and I met. I posted those two because of the words of the song: "...As your Mama sings a lullaby," which was significant to me as meaning (my interpretation that is) "Mama Mary/Mother Church." The other river shots are of the Niobrara (along the Nebraska/South Dakota border near Valentine, NE. around Smith Falls) and the winter sunset last year as it shimmered across the Platte, (last two pics at the end.)

Thanks to John Hiatt for the haunting melody and most beautiful lyrics. This is one of my most favorite songs of his. It is such a meaningful song to me. I hope it will be played at my funeral.

~ Father G., thank you for taking me to see "your" River. It was a wonderful and perfect day. Thank you for the sacrifice you make each and every day to bring Christ to people and people to Christ. You never hear those words enough, but I mean them from the bottom of my heart. Your reward will be great in Heaven, Father, so please know my prayers are with you always and please, please, never give up, but persevere to the end, as I am confident you will, and one day we all will meet merrily in Heaven in the joy of the beatific vision and enjoy the company of our beloved big sisters and brothers, the Saints, who are cheering us all on to the very end!

Thanks to all of my friends for your prayers and for checking in from time to time at "This ol' Blog."

PAX,
susie

Go2Confession at your next opportunity...get a clean slate

Confession video

Great voice over, Doc.
; )

I am Easter... what are you?

You Are Easter

You are an optimistic, hopeful, and genuinely sweet person. Sensitive and affectionate, you are easily touched. You love nature, animals, and anything cute or cuddly. For you, every day is a new chance - no matter what happened yesterday. What makes you celebrate: Almost anything. You love most holidays and celebrations. At holiday get togethers, you do best as: The peacemaker. You can prevent any squabbles that might break out. On a holiday, you're the one most likely to: Remember to include everyone

What Holiday Are You?

Boy! Do I have this questionnaire fooled or what?

Is There Sex in Heaven? Article by Peter Kreeft

I was informed by Onion Boy that the link in my prior post on this subject didn't link. Here's the article I found on Google search. Thanks again, Jackie and OB for stopping by and your comments. Always fun to "see" you. : )

PAX,
susie

Native American Psalm 23...

I really like this video as it depicts the unity found in all cultures of the basic teachings of The Truth as taught in the Gospels. This is a haunting and beautiful video. Enjoy.

Fr. Shane, in his homily on Thanksgiving, told us the story of Squanto, the Native American who helped the pilgrims, but was also a man with flaws, shortcomings,weaknesses and sins as all of us have. But a man we pray, did believe and did finally "swim in the ocean of God's mercy" before he died, as he had been baptized into the Catholic faith. May he rest in peace.


The History of Tisquantum


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Tisquantum was a native of the Patuxet tribe, which lived at present-day Plymouth, and which belonged to the Wampanoag confederation of tribes.

In 1605, Captain George Weymouth led an expedition on behalf of some merchants in England, to look at the resources of North America, particularly the Canadian and New England areas. He sailed down the coast of Maine into Massachusetts, where he stopped. Thinking his financial backers in England would be interested in seeing some Indians, he decided to bring some back with him. They kidnapped two Indians in a very brutal manner, writing "we used little delay, but suddenly laid hands upon them . . . For they were strong and so naked as our best hold was by their long hair on their heads". He had gotten three other Indians to take back to England as well, but he used bribery with them: "we gave them a can of peas and bread, which they carried to the shore to eat. But one of them brought back our can presently and staid aboard with the other two; for he being young, of a ready capacity, and one we most desired to bring with us into England, had received exceeding kind usage at our hands, and was therefore much delighted in our company." That Indian was most likely Tisquantum.

Brought into England, Tisquantum lived with Sir Ferdinando Gorges, whose Plymouth Company had a lot of financial possibilities to exploit in the New World. Gorges kept Squanto, taught him some English, and eventually hired him to be a guide and interpreter for his sea captains who were exploring the New England coasts.

In 1614, he was brought back to America, assisting some of Gorges men in the mapping of the New England coast. John Smith, after he was done mapping the Cape Cod region, left in charge a fellow captain by the name of Thomas Hunt, to trade with the Indians a little more. Once Smith had sailed off, however, Hunt promptly tricked twenty Nausets and seven Patuxets into coming on board his ship to trade--and then kidnapped them. Tisquantum, probably on board to act as an interpreter for the trades, was one of those captured. They were bound, and sailed to Malaga, Spain, where Hunt tried to sell them for slaves at £20 apiece. Some local Friars, however, discovered what was happening and took the remaining Indians from Hunt in order to instruct them in the Chirstian faith, thus "disappointing this unworthy fellow of the hopes of gain he conceived to make by this new & devilish project".4

Tisquantum lived with the Friars until 1618 when he boarded a ship of Bristol headed for Newfoundland. When Tisquantum arrived in Newfoundland, however, he was recognized by Captain Thomas Dermer who happened to be there, and who had worked in the past for Sir Ferdinando Gorges.

Thomas Dermer wrote a letter to Sir Ferdinando Gorges, stating he had found "his Indian" in Newfoundland and asked what he should do with him. Dermer brought Tisquantum back to Gorges. While in England, Gorges apparently boarded Tisquantum with Sir John Slainey, treasurer of the Newfoundland Company. After working out the details, Gorges organized a trip to send both Dermer and Tisquantum to explore the natural resources and to re-initiate trade with the Indians along the New England coast who had been angry with the English after Hunt had kidnapped members of their tribes. At the end of the expedition, Tisquantum would be returned to his home at Patuxet.

Dermer and Tisquantum thus became very closely associated with one another. They worked together mapping the resources of the New England coast. When they arrived at Patuxet in 1619, Dermer and Tisquantum soon found out that the entire Patuxet tribe had been wiped out in a plague in 1617. Squanto was the only Patuxet left alive, so he moved in with a neighboring tribe that lived at Pokanoket--the home of Wampanoag sachem Massasoit. Dermer continued on, and while at Cape Cod, he and his crew were attacked by Nausets, and Dermer was taken hostage. Squanto heard about the incident, and came to his friend's aid, and negotiated his safe release. Dermer would later be attacked by Indians near Martha's Vineyard, and would die of his wounds after reaching Virginia.

Just little more than a year after Tisquantum was returned to his homeland, the Pilgrims arrived--in November 1620. After the Pilgrim explorers checked out all of the surrounding regions, they finally decided to settle at Plymouth in late December. Little did they know that just a couple years ago, Plymouth had been center of the Patuxet tribe.

Two months after settling at Plymouth, an Indian visiting from Maine, by the name of Samoset, walked right into the middle of the Colony which was being built, and welcomed the Pilgrims in English. Somewhat fearful and somewhat astounded, the Pilgrims and Samoset talked all day and night. After Samoset had led several tradings with the Pilgrims, he told the Wampanoag living at Pokanoket that the Pilgrims wanted to make a peace with them. Massasoit sent Tisquantum to be interpreter, and on March 22, 1621, the Pilgrims met Squanto for the first time. That day, Squanto negotiated a peace treaty between Massasoit and the Wampanoag, and John Carver and the Pilgrims. It essentially stated that the Wampanoag and the Pilgrims would not harm each other, and they became a military alliance as well, such that if one were attacked, the other would come to the aid.

Tisquantum lived out the rest of his life in the Plymouth Colony. He befriended the Pilgrims, and taught them how to manure their corn, where to catch fish and eels, and acted as their interpreter and guide. Without Squanto's help, the Pilgrims would probably have had severe famine over the next year, and would have lived in constant fear of their Indian neighbors--Indians who were actually quite peaceful, but who had been rightfully angered by the cruel treatment they received from many English ship captains like Thomas Hunt.

Tisquantum did not help the Pilgrims solely because he was a nice and caring individual. By late 1621 he was using his position with the Pilgrims for his own gain--threatening many Indians that if they did not do as he told them, he would have the Pilgrims "release the plague" against them. As with all humans, "power corrupts". When Massasoit learned that Tisquantum was abusing his position to steal power, he demanded Squanto be turned over to him to be executed. The Pilgrims were required to turn Squanto over, according to the peace treaty they had signed with one another. But the Pilgrims felt they needed Squanto's services, so they stalled--until an English ship came onto the horizon, and distracted everyone's attention for awhile.

But in November 1622, while on a trading expedition to the Massachusetts Indians, Tisquantum came down with Indian fever, his nose began to bleed, and he died. Governor William Bradford, perhaps Squanto's closest friend and associate among the Pilgrims, wrote the following about his sudden death:

In this place Squanto fell sick of an Indian fever, bleeding much at the nose (which the Indians take for a symptom of death) and within a few days died there; desiring the Governor to pray for him that he might go to the Englishman's God in Heaven; and bequeathed sundry of his things to sundry of his English friends as remembrances of his love; of whom they had great loss.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SOURCES:

1. Bradford, William, and Edward Winslow. Mourt's Relation: A Journal of the Pilgrims at Plymouth. London, 1622.

2. Bradford, William. Of Plymouth Plantation. Written 1630-1654, first published Boston 1854.

3. Winslow, Edward. Good Newes from New England. London 1624.

4. Gorges, Sir Ferdinando. A Brief Relation of the Discovery and Plantation of New England. London, 1622.

5. Gorges, Sir Ferdinando. A Brief Narration of the Originall Undertakings of the Advancement of Plantations Into the Parts of America. London, 1658.

6. Pory, John. A Description of Plymouth. London, 1622.

7. Pratt, Phineas. A court deposition from Plymouth Colony, 1662, republished in the Mayflower Descendant 45:113-120.

8. Rosier, James. A True Relation of the Most Prosperous Voyage Made this Present Year 1605 by Captain George Weymouth. London, 1605.

9. Smith, Captain John. A Description of New England. London, 1614.

10. Smith, Captain John. The Generall Historie of Virginia, New England, and the Summer Isles. London, 1624.

Tom Turkey's thoughts today....

Tom's not real fond of this holiday
but, be that as it may...

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

GO 2 MASS
and GIVE THANKS to GOD
for your family, friends, and
wondrous love that Jesus lavishes
upon us.
Pray for the souls in purgatory
who have no one to pray for them
especially for the souls of
priests and religious

God Bless You All.

susie

Is There Sex in Heaven?

We cannot know what X-in-Heaven is unless we know what X is. We cannot know what sex in Heaven is unless we know what sex is. We cannot know what in Heaven's name sex is unless we know what on earth sex is.

But don't we know? Haven't we been thinking about almost nothing else for years and years? What else dominates our fantasies, waking and sleeping, twenty-four nose-to-the-grindstone hours a day? What else fills our TV shows, novels, plays, gossip columns, self-help books, and psychologies but sex?

No, we do not think too much about sex; we think hardly at all about sex. Dreaming, fantasizing, feeling, experimenting—yes. But honest, look-it-in-the-face thinking?—hardly ever. There is no subject in the world about which there is more heat and less light.

Want More Light?. . .

Read the entire fascinating and thought provoking article by Peter Kreeft and if you're like me, you're not here anymore. ; )

Inspiring story of Sophie. . .modern day saint in the making

FOUND HERE AT MARIE'S BLOG

You may not have heard the story of this brave little girl. So let me tell you about the strength of the human spirit to overcome all adversities.

Sophie Delezio was born in 2001 and lived a pretty normal life, so what makes Sophie different from millions of other children? Here is her story.

December 15, 2003 began like many other mornings. Sophie was dropped off at her Childcare Centre thats when Sophie's life changed forever. . . . .

Read the rest of this incredible story at Marie's blog. Thanks Marie for sharing this with me.

wonderful blog!

This blog is just superb. Thanks Catholic Audio!

The calling of Matthew... Caravaggio

1599-1600; Oil on canvas, 10' 7 1/2" X 11' 2"; Contarelli Chapel, Church of San Luigi dei Francesi, Rome

The subject traditionally was represented either indoors or out; sometimes Saint Matthew is shown inside a building, with Christ outside (following the Biblical text) summoning him through a window. Both before and after Caravaggio the subject was often used as a pretext for anecdotal genre paintings. Caravaggio may well have been familiar with earlier Netherlandish paintings of money lenders or of gamblers seated around a table like Saint Matthew and his associates.
Caravaggio represented the event as a nearly silent, dramatic narrative. The sequence of actions before and after this moment can be easily and convincingly re-created. The tax-gatherer Levi (Saint Matthew's name before he became the apostle) was seated at a table with his four assistants, counting the day's proceeds, the group lighted from a source at the upper right of the painting. Christ, His eyes veiled, with His halo the only hint of divinity, enters with Saint Peter. A gesture of His right hand, all the more powerful and compelling because of its languor, summons Levi. Surprised by the intrusion and perhaps dazzled by the sudden light from the just-opened door, Levi draws back and gestures toward himself with his left hand as if to say, "Who, me?", his right hand remaining on the coin he had been counting before Christ's entrance.
The two figures on the left, derived from a 1545 Hans Holbein print representing gamblers unaware of the appearance of Death, are so concerned with counting the money that they do not even notice Christ's arrival; symbolically their inattention to Christ deprives them of the opportunity He offers for eternal life, and condemns them to death. The two boys in the center do respond, the younger one drawing back against Levi as if seeking his protection, the swaggering older one, who is armed, leaning forward a little menacingly. Saint Peter gestures firmly with his hand to calm his potential resistance. The dramatic point of the picture is that for this moment, no one does anything. Christ's appearance is so unexpected and His gesture so commanding as to suspend action for a shocked instant, before reaction can take place. In another second, Levi will rise up and follow Christ--in fact, Christ's feet are already turned as if to leave the room. The particular power of the picture is in this cessation of action. It utilizes the fundamentally static medium of painting to convey characteristic human indecision after a challenge or command and before reaction.
The picture is divided into two parts. The standing figures on the right form a vertical rectangle; those gathered around the table on the left a horizontal block. The costumes reinforce the contrast. Levi and his subordinates, who are involved in affairs of this world, are dressed in a contemporary mode, while the barefoot Christ and Saint Peter, who summon Levi to another life and world, appear in timeless cloaks. The two groups are also separated by a void, bridged literally and symbolically by Christ's hand. This hand, like Adam's in Michelangelo's Creation, unifies the two parts formally and psychologically. Underlying the shallow stage-like space of the picture is a grid pattern of verticals and horizontals, which knit it together structurally.
The light has been no less carefully manipulated: the visible window covered with oilskin, very likely to provide diffused light in the painter's studio; the upper light, to illuminate Saint Matthew's face and the seated group; and the light behind Christ and Saint Peter, introduced only with them. It may be that this third source of light is intended as miraculous. Otherwise, why does Saint Peter cast no shadow on the defensive youth facing him ?

Fall in love with Jesus... 'go meet Him' when He calls you...

I've been to our Adoration Chapel every day except one this past week. It has been something that words fall short of being able to express, although this poem to my Beloved Jesus came to me Monday night, as I had the opportunity to be alone with Him for a while, before other adorers came. I'm glad others are faithfully coming to our new and beautiful chapel. BUT, I must say, I love to be there alone with Jesus. However, we can be alone with Him even if many are around, for He's got that "way about Him" doesn't He? He's the Lover of your soul, too, so when He says, "Come away, my beloved" or when you hear that Voice calling you, like a lover who's wanting to be with you, "go"........for how can you refuse such a Love as His? I've never experienced what I've been experiencing the past week, ever before. Don't put off going to sit with Him. Don't. Don't take a book, and don't even open your mouth. You know how it is when you're with your with the one you love, you don't always need words. I was asked by Jesus to 'come and not petition, not pray the rosary, not read a prayer book, but just 'be with Him.' Do it. It will "rock your world!" It will change you. I'm still a clay-footed sinner, but I know my Lover only wants me to "be with Him" and let his light and grace fill me up...it's better than a gourmet dinner with the best of wine. Well, what are you waiting for? Get off your bums and let Jesus hold you and gaze at His face and rest against His chest and listen to His Sacred Heart....it's beating just for you, you know.

Adoration Rendezvous

with the Lover of my soul

I want to meet You in the chapel

I’ll be there ‘round eight o’clock

I need to meet You in the chapel

And I don’t even want to talk

All I want You to do is hold me

And wipe the tears from my face

To let Your tender love enfold me

And rest in Your warm embrace

All I want to do is listen

To the sound of Your heart beat

As Your mercy divine surrounds me

Lord, I love to listen to You breathe

Alone with You in blessed silence

I light a candle and say a prayer

Then You fill me with such a sweetness

To which nothing can compare

Oh I’ll meet You in the chapel

I’ll be there ‘round eight o’clock

And hear You softly whisper,

“Shh, darlin’…you don’t need to talk”

Susie Melkus

11-12-07

Mary...let Her untie your knots....

Please visit my friend, Tiber Jumper's blog and listen to the new "Tiber Kitchen Studio" version of this, in my humble opinion, soon to be a classic Marian devotion song.

~ Thanks TJ ~

Your melodious gift is most appreciated by this former blog addict and now sporadic blogger and devoted lover of our Mama, Most Holy. Who cannot love to love who our Lord Jesus loved most?

No Mary - No Jesus

Know Mary - Know Jesus

The Breeze Freshens at the Vatican

I can only say AMEN! SO BE IT! -susie

Posted Nov. 14, 2007 2:50 PM || by Dr. Jeff Mirus || category Commentary
First Notice of New Content + Really Enjoyable, Useful Commentary.
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Is a new wind blowing through Rome? Vatican officials suddenly seem to be speaking out against the abuses and deficiencies which have been so characteristic of Catholic life over the past generation. In short order, we have two cases in point.

First, the Secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship spoke out in early November against the stiff resistance to Pope Benedict XVI in some quarters over the wider use of the Missal of John XXIII. Archbishop Albert Ranjith Patabendige said in an interview that in some dioceses the hostility to Summorum Pontificum amounts to “rebellion against the Pope.” He noted that “everyone, and particularly every pastor, is called to obey the Pope, who is the successor to Peter” and that bishops must follow the papal directive faithfully, “setting aside all pride and prejudice.”

Complaining that in some places bishops have established policies which limit or exclude the papal motu proprio, the Secretary charged that this resistance is motivated by “on the one hand, ideological prejudices, and on the other hand pride—one of the deadliest sins.” In a similar address to the Latin Liturgy Association in The Netherlands a few days earlier, he had also remarked that diocesan bishops “do not have the right” to ignore or resist Summorum Pontificum and that in defying the Pope’s authority, they are allowing themselves “to be used as instruments of the devil.”

At about the same time, the Director of the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music gave an address recommending that an office in Rome be given the authority to correct the musical banality which often characterizes contemporary liturgies. Monsignor Valentin Miserachs Grau contended that “in none of the areas touched on by Vatican II—and practically all are included—have there been greater deviations than in sacred music.” He went on to lament: “How far we are from the true spirit of sacred music, that is, of true liturgical music! How can we stand it that such a wave of inconsistent, arrogant and ridiculous profanities have so easily gained a stamp of approval in our celebrations?”

Msgr. Miserachs argued that it is a grave error to think that people “should find in the temple the same nonsense given to them outside,” completely lacking “the indispensable characteristics of sacred music—sanctity, true art, universality.” The director called for a “conversion” back to the norms of the Church: “Nova et vetera, the treasure of tradition and of new things, but rooted in tradition.” Contact with tradition “should become again the living song of the assembly that finds in it that which calms their deepest spiritual tensions, and which makes them feel that they are truly the people of God.”

Vatican officials are generally known for their circumspection; such frank assessments—indeed, such expressions of frustration—are rare. While it would be foolish to presume that this candor presages a sea change, one may at least wonder if the waters are being stirred. In a Church charged by Christ to teach, rule and sanctify, the long pontificate of John Paul II brought great gifts to the papacy for teaching and sanctifying. I hope to be eternally grateful for these gifts. But in that era the papacy was not graced with the gifts of a ruler. Both faith and history suggest that, sooner or later, this will change.

Take up your cross...or you can't be my disciple

Our Church

Revival....

Here's a REVIVAL for ya and you don't have to wait for a preacher and a tent, or for next Sunday, because you can get the best revival of your life in the confessional. Go and be absolved of your sins...and then, let heaven enter your heart and soul, True Food and True Drink, the Body Blood Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ at the Eucharistic sacrifice. He who eats of My FLESH and drinks of MY BLOOD will NEVER DIE.
Now that sounds like revival to me.
Yes, THIS IS REVIVAL.

No soundtrack but the BELLA music ...

can be found here

and it is wonderful! Got it? Get it? Good.

I just had to post this....YAY MARY and Elisabeth Elliot . . .

And at least you (Elisabeth) are open and gracious to us Catholic Christians and by the way, I love your brother, Thomas Howard...Lead Kindly Light. This article is old, but check out the caustic barbs being thrown around in certain fundamentalist Baptist circles. I guess 'they're' the Right and True church??? This really is so very sad. No wonder the lost in the world laugh at us (all of us) Christians.... God have mercy, Lord have mercy. ~ susie

ELISABETH ELLIOT AND CATHOLICISM AND FUNDAMENTALISM

[Distributed by Way of Life Literature's Fundamental Baptist Information Service. Copyright 1997. These articles cannot be stored on BBS or Internet sites without permission from the author. Any articles which are redistributed by e-mail must be left intact and nothing must be removed or changed, including these informational headers. This is a listing for Fundamental Baptists and other fundamentalist, Bible-believing Christians. Our primary purpose is to provide information to assist preachers in the protection of the churches in this apostate hour. If you desire to receive this type of material on a regular basis, e-mail us, tell us who you are and where you are located, and request to be placed on the list. Also include your postal address and the name of the church of which you are a member. Please note that we take up a quarterly offering to fund this ministry. Some of these articles are from the "Digging in the Walls" section of O Timothy magazine. David W. Cloud, Editor. O Timothy is a monthly magazine in its 14th year of publication. Subscription is $20/yr. The Way of Life web site is http://www.wayoflife.org. The End Times Apostasy Online Database is located at this web site.]

September 14, 1997 (David W. Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061-0368, fbns@wayoflife.org) -- The following information was sent to us by a reader in Wisconsin --

"On September 6, 1997, at the Waukesha, Wisconsin Expo Center Elisabeth Elliot spoke before a large gathering of multi-denominational individuals. The meeting was sponsored by WVCY radio out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

"A few questions were directed to Mrs. Elliot that confirmed her compromise within the apostasy of New Evangelicalism.

"Question: ‘Can a person be Catholic and Christian in union?’

"Mrs. Elliot: ‘Yes, we can have unity in diversity; my brother is a Catholic and a Christian.’

"Question: ‘Then is it acceptable to celebrate the [Catholic] Eucharist?’

"Mrs. Elliot: ‘Yes.’

"Question: ‘Of Mary, 'queen of heaven'?’

"Mrs. Elliot: ‘Excuse me, time will not allow me to expound on these questions.’

"Mrs. Elliot moves on to the next in line.

"How very amazing that the general church masses have little idea how some have been deceived, given over to false doctrine, and even blinded to the pure gospel which we've been given so clearly.

"What is of further amazement is that a Christian radio station (WVCY America), which barks loud about separation, is so prone to air a gamut of such compromising teachers. They dropped the M&M Clinic program and wrestle with James Dobson, yet choose not to address the programming of figures such as Swindoll, Elliot, etc. They are even aware of the error of New Evangelicalism but choose not to obey the truth. Be it for gain or ignorance, the dross bears greater witness than the gold with such as these" (Steve Straub, Sept. 8, 1997, Waukesha, Wisconsin).

CONCLUDING NOTE FROM BROTHER CLOUD ON THE SUBJECT OF FUNDAMENTAL BAPTIST COMPROMISE

Elisabeth Elliot is the wife of martyred missionary Jim Elliot. We have no doubt that she is a gracious woman, and it is commendable that she served for many years on a very difficult mission field. Further, she has taken a commendable stand against the attempts of some to accommodate the feminist movement to the Bible. In her book The Mark of a Man she rejects the attempts by the modern feminists to rewrite the Bible to suit their so-called "feminist theology." Regardless of the many good things which could be said about Mrs. Elliot, though, she is a committed ecumenist. She regularly joins hands with such recognized anti-separatists as Billy Graham, Luis Palau, John Stott, James Dobson, and Haddon Robinson (an editor of Christianity Today). All of these men are openly opposed to Fundamentalism and biblical separation.

Mrs. Elliot spoke at the 1995 National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) Convention in February, together with Luis Palau and Billy Graham. There is not a more religiously confused hodgepodge anywhere than the NRB. In 1994 the NRB awarded its Milestone Award to The Voice of Prophecy, a Seventh-day Adventist television program!

In July 1989, Mrs. Elliot spoke at the Roman Catholic Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio, a hotbed of Roman Catholic-Charismatic enthusiasm. Each year the Franciscan University holds a conference to exalt the blasphemous Catholic dogmas that Mary is the immaculately conceived Queen of Heaven and advocate of God's people. (I can only add here: ...."Oh brother!")

We have been exceedingly saddened in recent years to see that Mrs. Elliot and other New Evangelical compromisers have been invited to speak in various (alleged) fundamental Baptist forums. For example, she was the featured speaker at the Joyful Woman Jubilee in October 1994. This is sponsored by The Joyful Woman magazine, the editor of which is Joy Rice Martin, a daughter of the late independent Baptist evangelist John R. Rice (founder of The Sword of the Lord publication). Two other Rice daughters, Jessie Sandberg and Joanna Rice, are contributing editors, and yet another of Rice daughters, Elizabeth Rice Handford, is the editorial consultant. Mrs. Hanford is the wife of Pastor Walt Handford, Southside Baptist Church, Greenville, South Carolina. Note the following description of this well-known independent Baptist church by Calvary Contender Editor Jerry Huffman: "Southside Baptist Church has long been on a toboggan slide to New Evangelicalism. This has been evident in the speakers, the associations, and the CCM (contemporary Christian music). The 11/94 Southsider mentions a new 'seeker service' to be taught by Pastor Handford and Don Preston. Preston was recently licensed by Southside, and is 'full-time with Campus Crusade for Christ.' Campus Crusade is headed by Bill Bright and is very ecumenical and pro-Catholic/charismatic"(Calvary Contender, Jan. 1, 1995).

The Joyful Woman magazine has shown a fearful lack of discernment toward ecclesiastical compromise in recent years. The May-June 1994, issue of The Joyful Woman featured James Dobson and his wife, Shirley, on the front cover. The July-August 1991, issue contained a full-page ad for Campus Crusade's Here's Life Publishers, including the offer of a book entitled Freeing Your Mind from Memories That Bind. The Jan.-Feb. 1992, issue of The Joyful Woman contained a full page ad for the radically ecumenical World Vision, as well as an advertisement for the New International Version. World Vision works closely with the Roman Catholic Church in many parts of the world.

To invite committed ecumenists to speak to fundamental Baptists clouds the issues between truth and error. It would be no different from inviting Billy Graham to speak. The same reasons which forbid us to participate in ecumenical evangelism forbid us to invite ecumenists to our pulpits. Those who participate in such things tend to become weakened in their convictions and confused as to the seriousness of ecclesiastical and doctrinal compromise. The walls of biblical separation are being broken down, and the next generation will reap the crop of this error.

Some slanderously label this "second degree" separation, but that is a misnomer. Think about it. God commands that His people mark those who cause divisions contrary to the doctrine which we have received (Rom. 16:17). Mrs. Elliot and other New Evangelicals REFUSE to obey the Word of God. They refuse to separate from heretics. They join hands with Romanists and Modernists. When someone challenges them, as happened during the question and answer session in Wisconsin, they ignore or dodge the hard questions. Their compromise is open and willful. What is left for Bible-believing people to do but to refuse to have such people in our churches? This is not "second degree" separation; it is biblical separation. It is also wisdom. To rub shoulders with rebellion is to learn rebellion. The carnality of the Corinthians was evident in their sympathetic, broadminded view of heresy (2 Cor. 11:1-4). God warns that a little leaven leavens the whole lump, and evil communications corrupt good manners (Gal. 5:9; 1 Cor. 15:33). The fulfillment of this is evident in the lives of people like Elisabeth Elliot who refuse to practice biblical separation. They become more spiritually blind with each passing year.

Further, Mrs. Elliot is a life-long Episcopalian. It is a strange thing for Baptists to invite an Episcopalian to speak at their conferences.

Forgive... it is good and it equals peace