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!

You, LORD, are just in all your ways, faithful in all your works. You, LORD, are near to all who call upon you, to all who call upon you in truth. You satisfy the desire of those who fear you; you hear their cry and save them. You, LORD, watch over all who love you, but all the wicked you destroy. My mouth will speak your praises, LORD; all flesh will bless your holy name forever.

You have also forgotten the exhortation addressed to you as sons: "My son, do not disdain the discipline of the Lord or lose heart when reproved by him; for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines; he scourges every son he acknowledges." Endure your trials as "discipline"; God treats you as sons. For what "son" is there whom his father does not discipline? At the time, all discipline seems a cause not for joy but for pain, yet later it brings the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who are trained by it. So strengthen your drooping hands and your weak knees. Make straight paths for your feet, that what is lame may not be dislocated but healed.

Well. It's been awhile since I've blogged. Maybe I have been about the business of living instead of only writing about it.

It is snowing here in Central Wisconsin. Again! We have quite a snowbank along side the driveway and there is a good 7 or more inches that has been added to it all since this picture was taken on February 4th. We can't even see the mailbox anymore! It does my heart good. It doesn't exactly hurt our tourist industry or the water table, either, both of which suffered the past couple of winters from the lack of snow.

We have three deer (does) who go through our back yard at all hours of the night. They come in from the nearby field and woods, and they feast on food from the neighbors' birdfeeders (is "birdfeeder" one word or two? It is late...) They (the does) are sleek and fat - very muscular and lovely to behold. They are obviously faring well this winter.

Though the Christmas Season is well over, my dad continues to sing words from the old English carol "The Holly and the Ivy" ("the running of the dee-eer!", etc.)

Unfortunately, he sings this first thing in the morning. Well before noon. In a booming baritone voice. Everyone who knows me knows they oughtn't make a musical sound in my presence with vocal chords or especially the piano before noon, or perhaps to be more fair - not until I've had a cup of real coffee. :) After all, I've been up till the wee smalls watching deer dance through the back yard! (Lest you think I am unfair to my dear father, please note that he is equally prone to waxing melodic with both booming baritone voice and the piano up until Midnight. I keep my harmonicas, kazoos, lip whistle, and ukulele under lock and key for this reason. The guitar remains safely out in the open, as it has been found to cause blisters on fingers if one attempts to play it. *insert Paul McCartney on Beatles' _Helter Skelter_: "Oi've got blisters on moy fingers!"*

Midnight is when I become the perpetrator of HDC (High Decibel Chattering), when my dad is trying to get to sleep. This must be a throwback to my very early days as A Child Who Did Not Want To Go To Bed . It all evens out in the long run. I bug my dad at night; he bugs me in the morning!

Anyway, I am back to blogging. I am a strange sort of girl, really. Communication is a feast or famine proposition with me. I don't have the emotional energy this past week to communicate with my friends one-on-one, so behold The Blog. Please forgive me for failing to write and thank you all for your prayers and kind words.

Back to crocheting socks while listening to Arthur Rubinstein's interpretations of Chopin's 51 Mazurkas... or am I more in a mood for the Glenn Miller Orchestra?! (Big Band is my latest thing).

A week ago today, it snowed here in Wonderful (Central) Wisconsin. It was FABULOUS! This entire past week has been so wintry cold and I am loving it for now. The brisk, cold air gives me a little more energy, and I have been busy with planning/beginning lots of new projects for our parish and our local St. Vincent de Paul Outreach Center. More on those things later!

I found out what my dad ordered me for Christmas and I also found out that it is supposed to arrive today or Tuesday. This is a small view of what it will look like (without ME in it!)Apryl and Beverly, this is probably the only violet-colored sweater on the market this Christmas! If you want one for yourselves, please check Coldwater Creek's web site

Now, where am I going to find SOCKS to match it??? :)

(Those who know me in "real" life know me to collect both sweaters and socks).

Okay, that's enough vanity and trivia for one day!

Somebody's cat is snoring loud enough to raise the rafters, so I am trying to while away the time by learning some web page building skills.

*In the voice of a chihuahua with a Hispanic accent:*

"Oh, GREAT!!! A snoring DAD, too!!"

*Rip snorting snores heard across the hall...*

... if I had a long enough cord on my computer microphone, I would record this symphony of The Snoring Cat and Dad for you all to enjoy. *evil grin*

Anyway, I have been (slowly) learning how to use a lot of the many different settings and doodads on the Kodak digital camera recently, and have been taking pictures this past week. A sample of them can be found at a small photo album .

I have some nicer ones that are better photo composition, but I need to edit them first and then downsize the image files for suitable web page viewing.

And now, I am going to crawl in bed and read Winnie the Pooh. Good night, one and all.

I can so very much relate to this passage from the Gospel, about the woman who had been crippled/enfeebled by a spirit for so many years. Imagine being infirm for 18 years ! Imagine the courage and fortitude of this poor woman to continue to call out to God to free her from her infirmity, after so many days, weeks, months, and years of suffering! Now THAT'S perseverance!!

Like this woman in the Gospel story, I have been very ill for many years (the past nearly 23 years). Over recent months especially, I have difficulty even imagining what it is like to feel well. It is hard for me to fathom having the energy and strength I had before I became so ill with CFS. To me, it seems almost like Jesus will have to recreate every cell in my body, and do a makeover on my mind and my emotions, because I am so weary... and yes, I am discouraged. I'm sorry if this offends anyone, as I know other people do suffer more than I do, but: I am so bone-weary and so sick that I feel like even the Resurrection won't make me feel better.

Imagine how this poor, suffering woman felt after 18 years of being crippled/infirm. There must have been "holy" people who told her she wasn't holy enough, or that she should do this, that, or the other thing (or conversely, that should stop doing this, that or the other thing) and that then MAYBE her prayers might reach God.

Friends, if God seems to delay in answering our prayers, it is not because He is out to get us. He is not playing some kind of cosmic torture game on us! He hears our EVERY prayer. His Heart aches with EVERY tear we cry, with every silent, heartwrenching sob we inwardly cry. But... He knows the plans He has for us, to rescue us and to bring us even greater blessings than if we had never suffered in the first place. We need to trust in Him.

Do you notice in the below Scripture passage that the crippled woman stood up straight at once and GLORIFIED GOD?? Do you see there in the words of the Good News that the whole crowd rejoiced at the splendid works done by Jesus?

A lot of times, God allows us to suffer for the benefit of OTHERS. I will elaborate more on this later this week. But for today, please know that if our loving Heavenly Father seems to delay in answering our prayers, it is because He is turning the tables on Satan and defeating Satan's plan to rob you (and your family, friends, co-workers, neighbors, etc.) of seeing His Glory and His POWER TO RESCUE HIS PEOPLE.

Today, be of good courage! The Lord your God IS on YOUR side, and He is able to take the crosses in your life to bring you to greater freedom, healing,holiness, strength, and blessings than if you had never suffered in the first place , and in the process He will be more greatly glorified than if He had answered your prayers instantly. Not only is He ABLE to do this; He DELIGHTS to do this... for YOU personally.

Let's continue to persevere in prayer together. Our Daddy loves us, and we who hope in Him will NOT be disappointed!

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 13,10-17.

He was teaching in a synagogue on the sabbath. And a woman was there who for eighteen years had been crippled by a spirit; she was bent over, completely incapable of standing erect. When Jesus saw her, he called to her and said, "Woman, you are set free of your infirmity." He laid his hands on her, and she at once stood up straight and glorified God. But the leader of the synagogue, indignant that Jesus had cured on the sabbath, said to the crowd in reply, "There are six days when work should be done. Come on those days to be cured, not on the sabbath day." The Lord said to him in reply, "Hypocrites! Does not each one of you on the sabbath untie his ox or his ass from the manger and lead it out for watering? This daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound for eighteen years now, ought she not to have been set free on the sabbath day from this bondage?" When he said this, all his adversaries were humiliated; and the whole crowd rejoiced at all the splendid deeds done by him.

Copyright ? Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, USCCB

This time of year is the time of harvest, and I pray that all of us will soon find ourselves reaping in an abundant harvest of joy -- with merry laughter, jubilant songs, and loud rejoicing -- after all the prayers we have sown through so many sleepless nights of heartache and tearful prayers.

This week, may you and I recall with thanksgiving all the many lavish and timely answers our Heavenly Father has graciously granted to our lisping prayers in the past. Let's not wait until November 27th to thank Abba for His loving and providential care.

Abba, You are a lavishly generous Father. You squander Yourself on us and pour out treasures upon us even as we sleep. We thank You that for every prayer we have sown in tears, You will answer us and give us things even far better and more wildly ample than what our feeble little minds and sometimes faint and faithless hearts dare to ask or even to imagine. Thank You that You love us so much, Daddy! Jesus, we trust in You! Holy Spirit, continue to make intercession for us in our weakness; give us holy courage and fortitude to help us to persevere in prayer.

To You be endless glory throughout all ages, dear God! You are worthy!

Psalms 126,1-6.

A song of ascents. When the LORD restored the fortunes of Zion, then we thought we were dreaming. Our mouths were filled with laughter; our tongues sang for joy. Then it was said among the nations, "The LORD had done great things for them." The LORD has done great things for us; Oh, how happy we were! Restore again our fortunes, LORD, like the dry stream beds of the Negeb. Those who sow in tears will reap with cries of joy. Those who go forth weeping, carrying sacks of seed, Will return with cries of joy, carrying their bundled sheaves.

Copyright ? Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, USCCB

Lord, give me the boldness - the audacity and courage of Bartimaeus, when the people and circumstances in my life rebuke or seem to rebuke me when I am asking You for miracles.

And, when Satan and his minions seek to discourage me from continuing to ask You for my heart's desires, give me the discernment and holy chutzpah to renounce his lies of discouragement and despair. Don't let me take discouragement lying down. Help me to put up a holy fight. Amen.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark 10,46-52.

They came to Jericho. And as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a sizable crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind man, the son of Timaeus, sat by the roadside begging. On hearing that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, "Jesus, son of David, have pity on me." And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he kept calling out all the more, "Son of David, have pity on me." Jesus stopped and said, "Call him." So they called the blind man, saying to him, "Take courage; get up, he is calling you." He threw aside his cloak, sprang up, and came to Jesus. Jesus said to him in reply, "What do you want me to do for you?" The blind man replied to him, "Master, I want to see." Jesus told him, "Go your way; your faith has saved you." Immediately he received his sight and followed him on the way.

Copyright ? Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, USCCB