Time for Change

 Be strong and of good courage!

 The Lord your God is with you wherever you go. 

Joshua 1:9 

Inspiration from: Day 81 - Bible in a Year with Fr. Mike Schmitz   

"When God is with us there is a change." 

Mic drop. 

(Pun intended) 

Read that quote again...

"When God is with us there is a change." 

This world is hungry for change but does not know how to change.

Everyone has ideas of how to "change" but change isn't an idea.

Change happens when we acknowledge that God is with us. 

"There is something completely different that even in the midst of struggles or trials, in the midst of battles, even in the midst of failure, when God is with us we can still be strong and of good courage." 

When the world wants change but does not want God to be the heart of that change, Take Heart! 

"The Lord is the God of our hearts. The word "courage" comes from the latin word "cor", which means heart. To be discouraged means to lose heart. To be encouraged means to be given strength at heart."

This world isn't perfect but Take Heart!  

"We are often tempted to forget in the dark what we knew was true in the light."

"Let our hearts not be afraid. Let our hearts not be weary or discouraged, but to know that God is with us in the middle of struggles, trials and battles and even in the midst of failure."

God is fighting for us and God is with us! 

He is the change we need!  

Quotations from Day 81 - Bible in a Year with Fr. Mike Schmitz   

          Credit to hay s@hay_leigh

Eucharistic Heart by Erin K/ McAtee  

 

Heart of a Child

"The Beloved Disciple's faith in the Resurrection began in a tomb. A place of death became a witness to life. During a pilgrimage to the Holy Land I was privileged to pray inside Jesus' temporary tomb. What moved me was not a prayer I said, but a grace I was given. I had a visceral sense that I was kneeling in the epicenter of the Father's love, that place where the Father's love for the Son proved to be stronger than death. The Father's love is undying, unconquerable. He is not afraid to go to the deepest, darkest, coldest, loneliest place. He will go anywhere to find his sons and daughters and raise them to the life that his Only Begotten Son's obedient and sacrificial love has bequeathed to them." Father Richard Veras 

It's been a dark week with the shooting in Uvalde. Texas. 

So much sorrow and so many broken hearts.

We all want this evil to stop.

However, blaming guns and demanding change, will not dry away our tears.

In order for things to change, hearts have to change.   

I noted in my last blog that this is a heart problem.

For all of us.

“I want to remind the people that we must be kind to each other, we must be gentle. Our world moves so fast but we must never forget that love is truly the only thing that matters.” John Cardinal O'Connor  

The lives of those lost are not forgotten.

We remember the souls and pray for our hearts to be filled with love for one another. 

 Father Richard Veras reflection question:

 "Have I invited the Father's love into the darkest depths of my heart?" 

Prayer for the Heart of a Child 

Holy Mary, Mother of God,

preserve in me the heart of a child,

pure and transparent as a spring.

Obtain for me a simple heart

That does not brood over sorrows;

A heart generous in giving itself,

Quick to feel compassion;

A faithful, generous heart

that forgets no favor

and holds no grudge.

Give me a humble, gentle heart

Loving without asking any return;

A great indomitable heart

That no ingratitude can close,

No indifference can weary;

A heart tortured by its desire

for the glory of Jesus Christ:

Pierced by His love

With a wound that will heal

only in heaven.

By Leonce de Grandmaison

Image by Bryan Garces 

Unimaginable

We mourn with Uvalde, Tx.

They are going through the unimaginable.

Arguments have been made that this is a gun problem or a mental health problem. 

However, I think it is a heart problem.

Let me explain...

We can sit and argue the reason why on facebook but it doesn't take away the unimaginable.

It only divides us and furthers us from coming together in this time of need. 

Something horrific happened yesterday. 

It broke all of our hearts.

Let's not pretend to know the unimaginable. 

America, come together right now.

One heart.

Love those who are going through the unimaginable. 

"There are moments that the words don't reach

There's a grace too powerful to name

We push away what we can never understand

We push away the unimaginable"

It's Quiet Uptown Lyrics by Lin-manuel Miranda

Please pray for the families of: 

Alithia Ramirez, 10

Makenna Lee Elrod, 10

Jacklyn Jaylen Cazares, 10

Eliahna Garcia, 10

Uziyah Garcia, 8

Amerie jo Garza, 10

Xavier Lopez, 10

Jayce Carmelo Luevanos, 10

Eva Mireles, 44

Annabell Rodriguez, 10

Jailah Nicole Silguero, 11

Eliahana Cruz Torres

Rojelio Torres, 10

Irma Garcia

And those unnamed. 

 

A-L-E-X-A-N-D-E-R Hamilton

A-L-E-X-A-N-D-E-R Hamilton! 

Hamilton, the Broadway Musical, came to Spokane! 

 I was determined to go see it! 

"I am not throwing away my shot!" 

It was amazing! 

I watched Hamilton for the first time on Disney+ and immediately fell in love with the music and dancing! 

History became alive!  

The story is about the ten-dollar, founding father, Alexander Hamilton.

Hamilton was far from perfect but exactly what America needed. 

Hamilton was passionate. 

The man had courage to rise up and stand up for what he believed in.

"If you stand for nothing, what will you fall for?" 

Americans need to rise up and stand up for the unborn.

Catholics need to rise up and stand up for the unborn.

Rise up with compassion! 

Defend the unborn and the mothers of the unborn babies.

You and me.

Rise up.

"Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We fought for these ideals we shouldn't settle for less."

I relate to Hamilton as a writer.

"Why do you write like you're running out of time?

Write day and night like you're running out of time?

Every day you fight, like you're running out of time

Keep on fighting, in the meantime"

The time is now! 

Rise up! 

Choose Life

"God created every human being in his image and likeness with a destination in mind, and that destination is him." Fr. Mike Schmitz

This is the quote of the day from Dynamic Catholic.

Everything God created is good. 

 

Every human being has a plan and a purpose. 

His plan and purpose for us begin in the womb. 

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,

and before you were born I consecrated you;

I appointed you a prophet to the nations. Jeremiah 1:5

His plan and purpose are written in your heart.

For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.

Jeremiah 29:11 

“This is the charism of the Sisters of Life: to mother the mothers of the unborn; to mother the unborn; to mother all those who are frail, all of those who are vulnerable, all those who are ill, all of those who are in danger of being put to death, all those whose lives the world considers useless. Our Lord says to each Sister of Life, 'Woman, behold your son. Behold your daughter.'” John Cardinal O’Connor

God, who created your existence, who knitted and planned you in your Mother's womb, chose you for a reason! 

He chose you because He loves you. 

All of creation begins with love. 

God is love. 1 John 4:8

"God's love is fruitful or life-giving. Jesus said he came that we would have life and have it to the full. It is life giving in every respect. It bears fruit of every kind." St. Pope John Paul II 

Choose life! 

The Heart of a Mother

Happy Mothers' Day to my mom and to all mothers! 

My mom is my sunshine and joy! 

She is always there when I need her. 

She gives me courage to hope. 

Thank you, Mom, for believing in me!

Your beautiful smile makes me happy!

And Happy Mother's Day to our Blessed Mother! 

"Mary's smile is a spring of living water. "He who believes in me", says Jesus, "out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water" (Jn 7:38). Mary is the one who believed and, from her womb, rivers of living water have flowed forth to irrigate human history. The spring that Mary pointed out to Bernadette in Lourdes is the humble sign of this spiritual reality. From her believing heart, from her maternal heart, flows living water which purifies and heals. By immersing themselves in the baths at Lourdes, so many people have discovered and experienced the gentle maternal love of the Virgin Mary, becoming attached to her in order to bind themselves more closely to the Lord! Mary is honored with the title "fount of love". From Mary's heart, springs up a gratuitous love which calls forth a response of filial love, called to ever greater refinement. Like every mother, and better than every mother, Mary is the teacher of love. That is why so many sick people come to Lourdes, to quench their thirst at the "spring of love" and to let themselves be led to the sole source of salvation, her son Jesus the Savior."  -Pope Benedict XVI

Dearest Mother, thank you for your maternal love.

Thank you for your sweet smile. 

Mary's gentle presence comforts my heart. 

"From her believing heart, from her maternal heart, flows living water which purifies and heals."

The heart of a Mother!