Our Lady, Star of Fatima,
we kneel before thy shrine.
To bless they name, to sing they praise,
to blend our pray’r with thine.
Look down on us, O merciful,
most loving Virgin blest;
as we recite thy Rosary,
fulfilling thy request. Continue reading “On this day, O beautiful Mother!”
Fall is here with reminders of how quickly summer passed.
In every store Halloween candy & brightly colored costumes for princesses, witches, and fuzzy-wooly monsters of every size are found in the aisles where sand-buckets, bubbles and swim-suits once hung.
Despite the chaos of these short-summer months there was great joy, laughter and even a few unexpected lessons enveloped into our days.
(Four generations from each Family Tree, “Yipee!!”)
During these 3 short months of summer, there was so much we were grateful for!
Not just for the particularly helpful reminder of changing one’s underwear each day, amidst the fast & furious pace. But more importantly: for ‘out-ing’ the prospective monsters, (we were informed,) who were lurking around the corners of our lives!
Who knew such terrifying, hideous, pesky creatures could be roaming amongst us undetected!!!
How had we missed the potential frightening effects they were capable of instilling upon vulnerable, less-suspecting, & much smaller victims???
Could we find a way to detect, once and for all, the true identity of these probable ‘made-up-monsters’ in our midst; in an effort to protect ourselves (and those entrusted to our care?)
And so we were tasked, and gratefully accepted, the challenge to un-cover any alarming, dire, dreadful, fearsome, formidable, frightening, ghastly, hair-raising, horrendous, horrible, intimidating, scary, shocking, spine-chilling, terrible, fearful monsters masking themselves as family and/or friend.
“After careful examination I do believe they passed the test! No monsters here.”
The mission was daunting but we can proudly proclaim –
after looking through every size of closet,
and sorting through the darkness beneath each bed,
and in particular the branches of our family tree’s
NOT A SINGLE ONE WAS TO BE FOUND!!
“No MEAN MONSTERS in our midst,” was proven unequivocally!
So… just HOW did we do it? Just HOW did we know??
Quite simply you see, the monster ‘tickling mitts’ were the best test of all!
From the book: The Tickle Monster, by Josie Bissett
(Whose monster-mission is to bring joy and laughter to Planet Earth.)
Tickling is not mean – without reservation!!
Which is why…
the one who will not giggle, is the TRUE MEANIE-MONSTER, once and for all!!!
*Caution: A change of underwear may be necessary, following the monster tickle test.
(Of course this may/may not be strictly age dependent.)
“O LORD, You have searched me and known me.” Psalm 139:1
“But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature… for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7
“…For He knows the secrets of the heart.“ Psalm 44:21
*Grant’s system is pretty cool too…
it’s a 3hugs&blessings thursday…
Prayer isn’t there to make us feel better when we’re anxious.
And it’s not there as an obligation.
It is a communion of love, between a lover and the beloved.
St. Faustina is a reliable witness on this point: she spoke to Our Lord about this many times, and He always expressed His infinite love for humanity.
“While I was saying the chaplet [of Divine Mercy], I heard a voice which said, Oh, what great graces I will grant to souls who say this chaplet; the very depths of My tender mercy are stirred for the sake of those who say the chaplet.” (No. 848)
In prayer we need not only to pray the words but Christ needs us to also listen! Continue reading “do you hear my prayers, lord?”
