Devotion for today: Trading in Whole Foods and Trader Joe's for Life

 Matthew 16:25-27: For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.  What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done.

I recently had a crisis in my life. I just found out that two of my favorite food stores, Whole Foods and Trader Joe's, contribute to Planned Parenthood, one of the largest abortion providers in the country. If I stand for anything in this world, I stand for life from conception to natural death. I am living this conviction on both ends right now. My greatest joy in life is watching my granddaughter during the day, seeing her wonderment and awe at life emerge as she passes from newborn to infancy to older baby stage. I am also helping my 92 year old aunt cope with the ravaging effects of cancer treatment as she lies in a hospital bed trying to recover from her latest round. Both are marvels to me. My aunt has a profound love and trust in God, so she is peaceful and calm. My granddaughter is a joyful child, filled with giggles and squeals, so happy to be alive. How could I possibly continue to support groups that contribute to death? Oh but I love those stores. What to do?

God never lets me debate for long. Look at what I just read in “The One Thing is Three” by Father Michael Gaitley, Marian Press, 2012:

“… Now here is where the enrichment of faith comes to the rescue. Again, the enrichment of faith refers to ‘the witness of a living and mature faith’ that faces the challenges of the modern world and doesn’t back down. In fact, it ‘masters’ those challenges by putting faith first. What does it mean to put faith first? It means choosing being over having, the person over things, a life of self-giving love over selfishness. This is what it means for the faith to “penetrate the believer’s entire life.” It means letting God’s Word rule over all one’s decisions. It means not limiting prayer to Sunday Mass. It means living the life of Christ, abiding in him, and being a contemplative in action. In sum, it means doing everything through Christ, with Christ and in Christ, from riding the subway to folding the laundry. When the laity have such an enriched faith, God is made visible to the world through what they do and say and how they act and are. This is the witness of true holiness to which all the laity are called….”

When Karol Wojtyla visited the United States less than a year before becoming Pope, he said:

“We are now standing in the face of the greatest historical confrontation humanity has gone through. I do not think that wide circles of American society or wide circles of the Christian community realize this fully. We are now facing the final confrontation between the Church and the anti-Church, of the Gospel versus the anti-Gospel.”

Chilling? I would say so. There is no real choice in life for an authentic Christian. We have to be willing to sacrifice, and that is a foreign word to many people today. What? Give up my pleasures, my money, my free time for the good of another human being?  Well, yes. It is called martyrdom to the world and fullness of life in Christ. One leads only to death: that is a scientific fact. One leads to eternal life. The choice is yours.

So I will find other places to shop. And I will write a letter letting my former grocery friends know why I am leaving a long and wonderful relationship as I truly love the food in these store. If I don’t write the letter, I am like a protester standing in front of the White House without a sign. How will the President know what it is I don’t like!!!

Let me end with a few more words of John Paul II:

“The challenge facing us is an arduous one: only the concerted efforts of all those who believe in the value of life can prevent a setback of unforeseeable consequences for civilization.”

Be brave, be strong and be willing to sacrifice for the cause of life. We believe God brings every baby into a mother’s womb for a loving reason, and we believe God takes a person home when He does for a loving reason. Any attempt by man to end life at any stage is nothing short of replacing the true God with one whom we created ourselves.

This site, although not exhaustive by any means, will give you an idea of other places contributing to abortion through Planned Parenthood: http://www.physiciansforlife.org/content/view/1225/2/.

The Girl Scouts are on it, as is Disney. Really???????????????????

Devotion for today: Serve God Cheerfully

Romans 12:4-8:  Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function,  so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.  We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith.  If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.

I would like to site a passage from a wonderful book I have been reading for some time, due to the fact that I keep rereading sections and making so many notes. It is an “everyman’s guide to understanding the faith” and it is written in such simple, concise terms that I am finally understanding parts of my faith I never did before, or at least not fully. The book is “The One is Three: How the Most Holy Trinity Explains Everything” by Father Michael Gaitley, Marian Press, 2012. Here’s the passage that has me thinking today:

“Who has the mission of communion and evangelization? Everyone. Every single one of the Baptized has it. But while the great mission of the Church aims at one single goal-to bring all of creation back to the Trinitarian Communion of God- Christians have a wide variety of roles to play in accomplishing this goal…. What’s your role in the Body of Christ? You’ve certainly got one, and it’s utterly unique! John Paul II calls it a “personal and unrepeatable life project” that the Father entrusts to you as His gift to you- and as your gift back to Him. Such a personal life project us not usually revealed all at once, but rather, it unfolds in and is discovered through a consistent life of prayer, discernment, and spiritual direction.”

Permit me one more quote Father uses to make the point. This one is from the Second Vatican Council Decree on the Apostolate of Lay People, Apostolicam Actuositatem, November 18, 1965, n. 33:

The Council, then, makes an earnest plea in the Lord’s name that all people give a glad, generous and prompt response to the impulse of the Holy Spirit and to the voice of Christ, who is giving them an especially urgent plea at this moment.”

This is really an eye-opener on so many levels, isn’t it? Let’s start with St. Paul’s exhortation in Romans. There are several words that jump out at me right away: generously, diligently, and cheerfully. It seems St. Paul knows that God doesn’t want us to fulfill our position in life with a perfunctory sense of duty, plodding through the day serving Him in the workplace or at home with a resigned spirit and a dull attitude. No, He wants us to do this with a desire to go over and above what is expected, to perform our tasks with care and conscientiousness, and to be thrilled to be doing it because we are working for God in His vineyard and making a difference! Can we really say we do this each and every day of our lives? Because each and every day is all we get in this life. Once today is over, it is gone forever. Lost are all the opportunities we were given to share our love of God through the joyfulness and vibrancy with which we should be living our lives. That is what is going to make a difference in people’s lives. It doesn’t matter if you have 10 Degrees in Theology, studied at thus and such university or know every single Vatican Document by heart. If people don’t see you as accessible, loving, careful and joyful, they don’t want what you are presenting.

Moving on to John Paul II’s statement, isn’t it fascinating to think that God has given each and every one of us a life project to complete for Him? Don’t you feel amazingly special right now? I do! I know I could have been born at any time in history, but God needed me right now, today, in the 21^st century, with all its problems and upheavals, to make a difference. How do I know what I am supposed to do? Father Gaitley makes it crystal clear: pray, discern and seek guidance. How many of us actually do this every day of our lives? Yet, we must. It is the only way we will see the tapestry that is being created in us, thread by thread.  Look for yours. Spend time today reflecting on what you have done, and where you heart is leading you. That is the “impulse of the Holy Spirit and the Voice of Christ” at work in you. Listen, pray, ask for guidance from trusted spirited-filled friends, family and clergy to see what it is that God wants you to use for the comfort and care of His people, so that they, too, can find the joy in living that you already have. The gift is to be given away, everyday, cheerfully!!!!!!!

Devotion for today: We all have dragons

Devotion for today: We all have dragons

2 Samuel 22:29: “For You are my lamp, O Lord; the Lord shall enlighten my darkness. For by You I can run against a troop; by my God I can leap over a wall. As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the Lord is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him.” 

Ephesians 6:10-18: Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹ Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. ¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. ¹³ Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. ¹⁴ Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵ and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ¹⁶ In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷ Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.¹⁸ And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.

“There be dragons" is a shorter version of the phrase "here there be dragons" from the Latin “hic sunt dracones”, an ancient way of denoting in maps a place where there is danger, or an unknown place, a place to be explored. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There_Be_Dragons)

I just watched a really good movie titled “There Be Dragons” directed by Roland Joffe. It is the story of two young boys who start life together but end up taking completely different paths. One young boy, Josemaria Escriva, goes on to become a priest and truly is now a candidate for sainthood. The other, Manolo, becomes a hate-filled, unforgiving man who has many regrets at the end of his life. Although the movie is basically about forgiveness, I came away with a different take on it.

We all have dragons, places within us that hold danger for our salvation. In the movie, an old lady tells the two young boys that there are many kinds of dragons. The secret to life is to know how to identify the dragons and then discover what weapons work best against them. I think this is true for each of us. If we really want to be holy, and be on the road to heaven, then we must take time to identify our personal dragons and find the means and ways necessary to killing them.

Maybe we are filled with the temptation for sins such as lust. Our weapons may include filters on our computers, guards on our televisions, cable programs that don’t allow “adult” channels. Maybe we are prone to gossip. Our weapons may include tactics for politely removing ourselves from conversations as soon as they go in this direction. Maybe we carry around a lot of angry thoughts in our heads. Our weapons may include a storehouse of devotional material that bring positive, uplifting stories to our minds and keep hope alive in us, or a journal where we write down all the blessings and gifts God has given us so that we can read the list when the angry thoughts fall upon us.

Of course, we also need an arsenal of the “big guns” to pull out all the time. Dragons don’t like to lose and our best efforts sometimes fall short. Then we really must use our rosaries, Mass and the Eucharist, confession, inspirational reading, the Bible, and many little prayers to start racing through our heads to crowd out the dragon. My husband has a poster that reads, “Some days the dragon wins.” It shows a battle- weary knight coming home to the castle, sword dragging behind him, armor in tatters. That is a good picture for me of how the battle sometimes goes. It doesn’t matter, though, as long as we don’t give up. The dragons in us will rear their ugly heads until we can tame them and with God’s help we can. Look at recovered drug addicts and recovered alcoholics. They fight every day, but once recovered, many go on to win the battle for good.

God loves us very much. He sees our struggles and He offers so many ways to help us fight them. Let us take the time to identify the types of dragons within us, and select our weapons wisely. Then let us cover ourselves in the armor of Christ, and win this war!!!  

Invocation of Saint George - Prayers of Intercession

Faithful servant of God and invincible martyr, Saint George;
favored by God with the gift of faith, and inflamed with an ardent love of Christ, thou didst fight valiantly against the dragon of pride, falsehood, and deceit. Neither pain nor torture, sword nor death could part thee from the love of Christ. I fervently implore thee for the sake of this love to help me by thy intercession to overcome the temptations that surround me, and to bear bravely the trials that oppress me, so that I may patiently carry the cross which is placed upon me; and let neither distress nor difficulties separate me from the love of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Valiant champion of the Faith, assist me in the combat against evil, that I may win the crown promised to them that persevere unto the end.

By the way, I really recommend piusmedia.com.

.