The angel of the Lord 

declared unto Mary,

and she conceived by the Holy Spirit.

Behold the Handmaid of the Lord,

be it done to me according to thy word.

And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us!

.........

....but not for long!

Sermon by Fr. Stephen on the feast of St. Joseph.

I missed recording a bit of it.  Father's words are in italics, as well as i could get them on the phone recording.

Joseph no doubt had other plans.  He wanted to be a husband and father and provider.  When Mary was found to be with Child, and Joseph had his dream, he realized that God’s plans would be leading him in a completely different direction than the plans he had made.  He had questions, as we have questions, and I'm sure God is bracing Himself to answer all the questions we will have at the end of our lives. 

"Joseph thought, it’s so hard to find a perfect wife, but I think I found one. If he (Joseph) had known what he was going for (our Lady), probably he would have chosen another woman, probably, because this is not the kind of situation a husband will usually find himself.

You know how much energy goes into falling in love, don’t you?  How much energy!  If you were to convert that energy into electrical energy, I don’t how much it would measure, but it’s a lot. To invest your heart into someone else, and say I want to give my life, only to be told, “You know what, there are a lot of things that we need to change about this relationship.”

 The bible does not tell us how Joseph responded to all of this, he simply obeyed, but I’m sure the guy had lots of questions. At times you feel it was almost unfair that he was not given a chance to explain himself and his feelings in the scriptures.  He was mute throughout.  He died with all of his questions.  So we don’t know what he was thinking,  after God’s judgement intervened. 

We all have plans, we all do.  I still am a young man, but I can tell you I have seen God destroy some of my most important plans of life, I have seen Him destroy them, and replace my plans with His Plans. And He keeps saying that His Plans are better plans. I’m sure you all in your life, and in your walk with God, you have similar stories to tell when, at some time in your life, something which you hoped for, something you thought was very right and the right thing to do, at the right time and place, only to  have an event come your way and you feel that God is asking you to wipe everything and take a complete new turn. 

That is what was asked of Joseph   He lived in different circumstances, yes, we are not like Joseph.  But you are going to have lots of problems and you will need a lot of faith to handle that.  So everyone has his own story, his own likes and dislikes, but there is a common theme in our story.  At some time in our life, God wants us to change our good plans, and to trust Him that He has better plans.

  The problem is the trust.  Trust in God that His plans are better than mine. And He does that to all the saints, and to all of us all the time.  For Joseph was a husband, he had to literally rethink everything about this marriage, he had to plan everything different, because the normal path to being a husband, “Look, I’m going to have intimacy with my wife, I’m going to enjoy that woman, I’m going to probably have future kids, and I’m going to be the father…  But as it turns out,  I  am sharing her with God.“ 

 Do you see how the scenario is? And the bible does not tell us how heavy it was on him. And yet, he humbly obeyed and served.  “I’m not sure why, but I will go with You, because I can trust You.”

 Marriage is a covenant within a Covenant. By that I mean our general Covenant with God.  Marriage is a specific covenant within that Covenant.  And in marriage you know too well that you are called to make lots of decisions which might be against your personal will and interests.  Yet for the sake of the common good, you might have to make that decision. You make a decision that, if you were left alone, you wouldn’t make.  It is all possible with great trust and faith.

  Marriage also needs faith.  Without faith you will quit.  Without faith it is impossible to even live with somebody for one week, one week, just a week.  Maybe a week is even too long.  It takes a lot to be able to accept that person and all the changes they will bring to your life, all the uncertainties, all the conditions, all the adaptations, and the compromises, but God promises that in all that He is going to be with you. Just trust Him and obey Him.

 He will never let you be ashamed, it is not possible. God has never shamed any person who trusts in Him. May God bless husbands at this Eucharist, may He bless husbands to be, may He bless all men, especially as they make the life decisions that the Lord has chosen for them.  If they trust Him, they will never be put to shame. May God bless men, and remember women as well."

Happy baptism anniversary, Kateri!

Notes for Talk #2: Mary Ann Hayes, OCDS, LCSW-C

On Saturday, Betty and I and Eileen Hilleary were blessed to attend the Diocese of Arlington's Women's Conference.  We were able to listen to two amazing speakers: Dr. Peter Kreeft and Mary Ann Hayes.   Here are the notes that Mary Ann Hayes provided which highlight ten common patterns of negative thinking, which is important, because, as she pointed out,  our underlying thoughts generate our emotions.

Cognitive Distortions

Cognitive Distortions are discrete, habitual patterns of thinking (“automatic thoughts”) that are misperceptions of reality.  Such misperceptions, often rooted in negative experiences from early childhood, cause one to experience a debilitation emotion, such as anxiety or depression, which one feels powerless to change.

By identifying the negative emotion and examining the underlying thought process, we are able to correct our faulty thinking and see reality more accurately.  This empowers us to take control of emotional life and gain great freedom in action.

The Ten Cognitive Distortions

1.     All or Nothing Thinking:  Life is black or white---No grays.

“I need to perfect, or I am unacceptable.”

2.     Overgeneralization:  Drawing negative conclusions about the future from one event/circumstance.

“My last relationship didn’t work out.  I guess I’ll never get married.”

3.     Disqualifying the Positive:  Refusing to see the good that is present.

“She doesn’t really like me.  She is just nice to everyone.”

4.     Jumping to Conclusions: Reaching conclusions without sufficient data.

“I texted him an hour ago and I haven’t heard a reply.  I guess he doesn’t want to see me anymore.”

5.     Magnification & Minimization:  Catastrophizing and denial.

“This is a crisis!” and “I didn’t realize we had a problem.”

6.     Selective Negative Focus:  Always looking for the negative in a situation.

“The glass is maybe 90% full, but it’s 10% empty!”

7.     Emotional Reasoning:  Emotions are evidence of truth.

“I feel inadequate.  I must be useless.”

8.     Labeling & Mislabeling:  An extreme form of over-generalization.  Putting self and others in boxes with -/+ Labels.

“I’m a failure.”

9.     Overuse of “Shoulds”: Insisting that you or life be a particular way, rather than how you/life is.

“Life should be fair!”

10. Personalization:  You consider yourself responsible for negative events, though they have nothing to do with you.

“She didn’t stop by my desk this morning to say hello.  I probably offended her somehow.”

Adapted from: David Burns, Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy,

Signet 1981.

St. Walburga, pray for us!

St. Walburga: Our Patronness

St. Walburga (d. 779) was born in England of a family of the local aristocracy. At an early age, she was entrusted to the care of the Benedictine nuns in Wimbourne (present-day Dorset) where she eventually made monastic profession. When her relative St. Boniface, a missionary monk and bishop who worked for the evangelization of Germany, asked for help from other Anglo-Saxon monasteries, St. Walburga became part of a group of nuns from Wimbourne who answered the missionary call. Eventually she became abbess of the monastery at Heidenheim, a double monastery of men and women founded by her brother St. Wunibald, who served as its first abbot. The tenth-cetury legend of her life tells stories of her gentleness, humility and charity, as well as her power to heal the sick through prayer.

Many years after her death, her bones were taken from Heidenheim, then in
ruins, to the town of Eichstatt, Bavaria, which had been founded by her brother St. Willibald, who served as its bishop. Her relics were entrusted to the care of a community of Benedictine nuns founded for the purpose of maintaining her shrine. To everyone's surprise, her bones began to produce a clear liquid, called oil for want of a more accurate word, which people began to use as a tool for prayer for the sick. Countless numbers experienced healing of body or spirit through her intercession. St. Walburga's oil continues to flow every year from about October 12 to February 25, two of her feast days. It seeps from her relics through a thick slab of stone where it is collected and distributed by the nuns of the Abtei St. Walburg.

Monastic life has continued without interruption at the Abtei St. Walburg from 1035 AD to today. In 1935, nuns from that monastery were sent to Colorado to found the community which has become the Abbey of St. Walburga in Virginia Dale.

Novena to St. Walburga

O God, come to my assistance.

O Lord, make haste to help me.

Glory be to the Father...

Psalm 23 or other psalm of trust (62, 91) may be recited

Holy Walburga, you dwell in the glory of heaven, gazing upon the face of the Triune God in the company of all the saints. I turn to you, full of trust in the words of Jesus Christ, "Amen, amen I say to you, the one who has faith in me will do the works I do, and greater far than these" (Jn 14:12). God has granted you the gift of healing; help me in my need, which I bring before you (mention petition). Beg God to grant healing, consolation and strength to me and to all those for whom I pray. Implore Him to let me recognize His love and know His presence, whatever He may have in store for me.  Ask this for me through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns in the unity of the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever. Amen

Prayer for Using the Holy Oil:

All-powerful God, creator of the heavens and the earth, I believe that you hold the world in your hands. Helpless I stand before the mystery of evil, suffering, and illness. I entrust myself to your wisdom.

Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, for our sake your Sond took upon himself all the suffering of the world. In obedience to you he suffered death to set us free. I open my heart to the grace of his redemptive death.

Kind Father, your Son promised us the Paraclete, the Comforter. The Holy Spirit teaches me the right way to call upon you and to love you. I entrust myself to your love.

Merciful God, you give us saints as witnesses of your presence in this world. In a miraculous way, St. Walburga was enabled to become, through the sign of the holy oil, a wellspring of healing for the distressed, the needy, and the sick. I entrust myself to her intercession.

Glory be the the Father...

After Using the Holy Oil Pray in your own words or in the following form:

Father of mercy and God of all consolation, I praise you:

Our Father...

Triune God, who pour yourself forth in love, I praise you:

Glory be to the Father...

Mary, Mother of God, powerful intercessor and refuge of all who suffer, pray for me:

Hail Mary...

St. Walburga, by your blessed life of love, God blessed you with the power to heal, to make whole the soul as well as the body.  Beg for us what we cannot obtain for ourselves, and heal our world of sickness and sorrow. May God hear you, who lived so graciously for His glory, and send us the healing grace we need, through your powerful intercession. Amen

 At the close of the Novena:

Lord give me light, that I may see your way.

Lord, give me strength, that I may follow your way.

Lord, give me love, that I may do your will.

Grace abounds!



We have recently received some Walburga oil, would you like to anoint yourself?  Please join us in praying for the expecting mothers and all the family's personal intentions.  In the coming week or two, i will take the oil to Teresa's because, after all, Kateri was born on the feast of St. Walburga.  :-)   We are blessed with the intercession of this wonderful saint!

Thanks be to God for graces received through the intercession of St. Walburga!

But take heart,

Spring begins March 20, 2014!

peter

 Peter, with God's grace

and your good choices

be a knight in shining armor

be the best that you can be

You will grow in strength and virtue

and in humility!

Congratulations, Jeanne, at Nats!

Jeanne singing at the recital at the end of the competition.

May God be praised in His Goodness!

my soul sings of Your Mercies, Oh Lord!

Snow

When snow comes with a baleful blast

and buries the gardens

and leaves us aghast

remember the sunshine,

remember the spring,

hopefully this will be winter's last fling!

However, 

for one more time,

we must be intrepid.

Snowplows will  again course through the neighborhood.

and our cars on the street must be dug out....again...

But there is fun to be enjoyed, too

and all this cold weather must surely be appreciated by someone, somewhere

but, overall.......