Novena Prayer to St. Therese of the Child Jesus
Now Playing: "Hail, Holy Queen" by Dana
Topic: Prayers
Novena to Saint Therese of the Child Jesus

O Little Therese of the Child Jesus, please pick for me a rose from the heavenly gardens and send it to me as a message of love.

O Little Flower of Jesus, ask God today to grant the favors I now place with confidence in your hands... (mention specific request)

Saint Therese, help me to always believe as you did, in God's great love for me, so that I might imitate your "Little Way" each day.

St. Therese of Lisieux Quotation - July 16, 2005.
Now Playing: Josh Groban, "Closer"
Topic: Saintly Encouragement
Before starting, I knelt before the statue of Mary, the one which has given us so many proofs that the Queen of Heaven looks after us like a mother. I begged her to guide my hand so that I should not write a line that would displease her. Then I opened the Gospels and saw these words: "Then He went up onto the mountainside, and called to Him those whom it pleased Him to call." There, indeed, was the mystery of my vocation, of my whole life, and of the special graces given to me by Jesus. He does not call those who are worthy, but those He chooses. As St. Paul says: "I will show pity, He tells Moses, on those whom I pity; I will show mercy where I am merciful; the effect comes, then, from God's mercy, not from man's will, or man's alacrity."

I had wondered for a long time why God had preferences and why all souls did not receive an equal amount of grace. I was astonished to see how He showered extraordinary favours on saints who had sinned against Him, saints such as St. Paul and St. Augustine. He forced them as it were, to accept His graces. I was just as astonished when I read the lives of the saints to see that Our Lord cherished certain favoured souls from the cradle to the grave and never allowed any kind of obstacle to check their flight towards Him. He bestowed such favours on them that they were unable to tarnish the spotless splendour of their baptismal robe. I also wondered why such vast numbers of poor savages died before they had even heard the name of God.

Jesus saw fit to enlighten me about this mystery. He set the book of nature before me and I saw that all the flowers He has created are lovely. The splendour of the rose and the whiteness of the lily do not rob the little violet of its scent nor the daisy of its simple charm. I realised that if every tiny flower wanted to be a rose, spring would lose its loveliness and there would be no wild flowers to make the meadows gay.

It is just the same in the world of souls - which is the garden of Jesus. He has created the great saints who are like the lilies and the roses, but He has also created much lesser saints and they must be content to be the daisies or the violets which rejoice His eyes whenever He glances down. Perfection consists in doing His will, in being that which He wants us to be.

~St. Therese of Lisieux, from her autobiography The Story of a Soul

In Love's Service, Only Wounded Soldiers Can Serve
Mood:  blue
Now Playing: Long December, by Counting Crows
Topic: Rich Mullins
Brennan Manning: There's a scene in Thornton Wilder's play "The Angel that Troubled the Waters" which to me really captures the essence of the life and the spirituality of Rich Mullins.

The scene is a doctor comes to the pool everyday wanting to be healed of his melancholy and his gloom and his sadness. Finally the angel appears. The doctor, he's a medical doctor, goes to step into the water. The angel blocks his entrance and says, "No, step back, the healing is not for you." The doctor pleads, "But I've got to get into the water. I can't live this way." The angel says, "No, this moment is not for you." And he says, "But how can I live this way?"

The angel says to him, "Doctor, without your wounds where would your power be? It is your melancholy that makes your low voice tremble into the hearts of men and women. The very angels themselves cannot persuade the wretched and blundering children of this earth as can one human being broken on the wheels of living. In love's service, only wounded soldiers can serve."

And to me the theme of that story is the theme to Rich Mullins' life. All grace, all light, all truth, all power are communicated though the vulnerability, the brokenness, the utter honesty of men and women who have been shipwrecked, heartbroken, broken in the wheels of living. In love's service, only wounded soldiers can serve. And to me, the power of Rich Mullins life lay in the power of his brokenness, the power in his unblinking honesty, his deeply moving sincerity and God, I miss him. But to my dying day I will boast and with honor will say that Rich Mullins was my friend.

Copyright 1998 by Word Entertainment
Homeless Man Transcript
Found at: Homeless Man Transcript

Prayer for John Paul II's Intercession
Topic: John Paul II
Prayer for John Paul II's Intercession
Published by Rome Diocese

O Blessed Trinity, We thank you for having graced the Church with Pope John Paul II and for allowing the tenderness of your Fatherly care, the glory of the cross of Christ, and the splendor of the Holy Spirit, to shine through him.

Trusting fully in Your infinite mercy and in the maternal intercession of Mary, he has given us a living image of Jesus the Good Shepherd, and has shown us that holiness is the necessary measure of ordinary Christian life and is the way of achieving eternal communion with you.

Grant us, by his intercession, and according to Your will, the graces we implore, hoping that he will soon be numbered among your saints. Amen.

The World's Greatest Guitar Player Ever (Phil Keaggy)
Mood:  a-ok
Now Playing: "Animal", by Phil Keaggy
Topic: Excellent Music
My taste in music is extremely eclectic. I daresay I would even buy a CD of African ululating chants if I could find one (my, wouldn't my cats become disturbed if I did that?!).

For the past several months, I have been subsisting on a musical diet of Classical music (especially Mozart and Chopin), and loads and loads of Josh Groban and Andrea Bocelli. Lately, I've been adding to the musical stew by listening to Irish Folk Music (courtesy of my fine Musicmatch Jukebox radio station, which doesn't happen to be working tonight - hmmmph!). Add to this that I am finding both enjoyment and solace in Waterdeep Worship by none other than the band Waterdeep.

Add to all of this my flirtation with depression (IOW, listening to Counting Crows). I'm giving Adam Duritz up for the rest of Lent. :)

So, now I am finally getting into full, rocked out mode and thus am in the mood for listening to The World's Greatest Guitar Player ever - Phil Keaggy.

Oh! He rocks! Bye now!

Road to Morocco
Topic: Classic Movies!
I'm psyched! I'm pumped! This is a great week for movies as far as I'm concerned. Not only is Meet Me In St. Louis going to be on (Monday, 2-28-05 at 12:15 p.m. EST), but on Tuesday, March 1st, Bob Hope and Bing Crosby will be on in Road to Morocco(6:30 p.m. EST)! Yippee! God must have been directing the minds and hearts of the powers that be at Turner Classic Movies, to set up such a great bunch of pictures to cheer me up at the worst point of the winter!

St. Angela of Foligno Quotation 2-28-05
Now Playing: Sacred Arias, Andrea Bocelli
Topic: Saintly Encouragement
Of what use are revelations, visions, feelings of God's presence, sweetnesses from him? Of what use are gifts of wisdom, elevations? Of what use even is contemplation? Indeed all these are useless unless one has a true knowledge of God and self.

- St. Angela of Foligno (1248-1309)

Classic Movies!!
Now Playing: Whiskey In The Jar by The Dubliners (The Best of Irish Folk, A Musicmatch radio station)
Seeing as how Google ads has a false religion advertising on my blog page(I am assuming you all know how Google ads work; for those who don't know, I need to get some fresh, new words on my page to generate more "acceptable" ads), I have unwillingly come out of blog retirement only hours after I had just decried to a close friend how egotistical and narcissistic I feel some (most!) blogs to be (mine included). Well, famous last words once again. Sigh. So, no more spilling my heart out on a public blog; I save that for my diary. I'm here now to entertain!

This coming week will find my VCR working overtime, as many of my favorite classic movies will be on Turner Classic Movies

One of my favorite movies is "Meet Me In St. Louis" (1944) starring Judy Garland. It will be on TCM Monday, February 28th at 12:15 p.m. EST. I am looking forward to it, though noon is not an appropriate viewing time for movies as far as I'm concerned. I watch movies late at night, with the Closed Captioning on and the sound at a just comfortable level.

Hark, one of my cats has stirred from a pile of wool sweaters on my bed, and I must deter him from banging on the bedroom door while my sleep-deprived dad snores across the hall.

That's all fffffffffffffffffolks.

The Blog Will Be Back Soon
Now Playing: Glenn Miller Platinum
Will add to the blog again for the first time in eons, this weekend, Lord willing. I also see that Angelfire has a nifty new photo album tool. Wunderbar!

Give Us Joy to Balance All the Days When We Knew Affliction!

This is the Psalm for Sunday Mass, September 5th, 2004. It is one of my favorites. May the Holy Spirit release the power of these verses in everyone who reads/hears them today:

Psalms 90,3-6.12-17.

But humans you return to dust, saying, "Return, you mortals!" A thousand years in your eyes are merely a yesterday. Before a watch passes in the night, you have brought them to their end; They disappear like sleep at dawn; they are like grass that dies. It sprouts green in the morning; by evening it is dry and withered. Teach us to count our days aright, that we may gain wisdom of heart. Relent, O LORD! How long? Have pity on your servants! Fill us at daybreak with your love, that all our days we may sing for joy. Make us glad as many days as you humbled us, for as many years as we have seen trouble. Show your deeds to your servants, your glory to their children. May the favor of the Lord our God be ours. Prosper the work of our hands! Prosper the work of our hands!