toadstools & the queen

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Photo Courtesy of Kristyn Brown Photography

An anxious man once advised:

“All I can tell you is exactly what my father-in-law advised me early in my own marriage:  “You have a choice to make, you either get on that train or you get out of the way because this train is not stopping.” And just so you know…it never will.” 

Moral of the story: A train’s tightly shackled caboose always follows along…because it can’t go anywhere without it.

Readings of the day for Friday, February 5, 2016.

Gospel Reading

Mark 6:14-29 (RSV)

King Herod heard of it; for Jesus’ name had become known.  Some said, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead; that is why these powers are at work in him.”  But others said, “It is Elijah.”  And others said, “It is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.”  But when Herod heard of it he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.”  For Herod had sent and seized John, and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife; because he had married her.  For John said to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.”  And Herodias had a grudge against him, and wanted to kill him.  But she could not, for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and kept him safe.  When he heard him, he was much perplexed; and yet he heard him gladly.  But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his courtiers and officers and the leading men of Galilee.  For when Herodias’ daughter came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests; and the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will grant it.”  And he vowed to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give you, even half of my kingdom.”  And she went out, and said to her mother, “What shall I ask?”  And she said, “The head of John the Baptist.”  And she came in immediately with haste to the king, and asked, saying, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.”  And the king was exceedingly sorry; but because of his oaths and his guests he did not want to break his word to her.  And immediately the king sent a soldier of the guard and gave orders to bring his head.  He went and beheaded him in the prison, and brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl; and the girl gave it to her mother.  When his disciples heard of it, they came and took his body, and laid it in a tomb.

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Photo courtesy of Pinterest

Divine Love was found in the friends who came to gather what remained.

hugs n’ blessings to all who receive mercy,

for the sake of his sorrowful passion,

from the one True Prince of heaven.

 

Pray! and Watch! and Wait!

Every morning Helen Kowalska-Schaaf, the Best Golden Retriever in the Universe, and I begin our day in the same way.

We Pray…

O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you, and watch.” Psalm 5:3

We watch

“I will stand on my guard post And station myself on the rampart; And I will keep watch to see what He will speak to me, And how I may reply when I am reproved.”  Habakkuk 2:1

And we wait...

(sometimes with a few more friends who Helen invites to join us!)

“For the grace of God has appeared, saving all
and training us to reject godless ways and worldly desires and to live temperately, justly, and devoutly in this age,
as we await the blessed hope, the appearance of the glory of the great God and of our savior Jesus Christ”  Titus 2:13

And what are we praying, watching, & waiting for?

“Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:16

Exactly what Jesus instructed St. Faustina to remind us:

God’s Mercy!

“Tell souls not to place within their own hearts obstacles to My mercy, which so greatly wants to act within them.  My mercy works in all those hearts which open their doors to it.  Both the sinner and the righteous person have need of My mercy.  Conversion, as well as perseverance, is a grace of My mercy.” (1577)

And so it was with great anticipation that both Helen & I eagerly awaited the beginning of our Church New Year as Papa (Pope Francis) opened the Holy Doors of St. Peter’s Basilica on Tuesday, December 8, 2015 performing a ritual that has been part of the Catholic Church since the 1500s!  Holy Doors are only opened during a special year designated by a pope called a Jubilee Year.  The last Jubilee Year was in 2000.

This iteration will be a Jubilee of Mercy ! 

“Salvation is offered to every human, to every people, without exception, to each of us,”Pope Francis said during the ceremony. “None of us can say, ‘I am holy, I am perfect, I am already saved.'”

~ Pope Francis

Traditionally, there are holy doors only in the four basilicas of Rome: St. Peter’s, St. John Lateran, St. Mary Major and St. Paul Outside the Walls.

But Pope Francis has rewritten the rules and said that every Catholic cathedral in the world may designate a holy door to be opened for a year, so that even those who can’t come to Rome can participate in the church’s Jubilee Year of Mercy by walking through the doors!

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Helen has already invited her friends to come along, as we make plans to participate in the Church’s Jubilee Year of Mercy, by walking through the designated doors!

hugs n’ merciful blessings to all those who pray, and watch, and wait!

Crazy Quack Ups!

it’s the monday giggles…

Photo Courtesy of Pinterest!
Photo Courtesy of Pinterest!

“Be like a duck, paddling and working very hard inside the water, but what everyone sees is a smiling and calm face.”    ― Manoj Arora

IF

by Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;
If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

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“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”  Romans 12:2

hugs n’ blessings for staying calm & colorful & enjoying gingersnaps all live-long-day!