Penitential

So far all of this Lenten season I have the same phrase repeating in my ear: ONLY THE PENITENT MAN WILL PASS, ONLY THE PENITENT MAN, ONLY THE PENITENT MAN. Thanks Indiana for reminding me that I have to KNEEL BEFORE GOD and ask for FORGIVENESS and to FORGIVE.

If seeing Indiana know that we should KNEEL and be HUMBLE before GOD then maybe seeing that even Pope Francis goes to confession.

Solitude

Happy St. Patrick's Day. I know a lot of people celebrate this day by drinking GREEN beer but here we had left over BBQ pork chops and the only thing that screamed that it was St. Patrick's Day was the extra GREEN Key Lime cake my daughter made. 

To say that she likes to bake in SOLITUDE is an understatement. 1) She LOVES to bake and gets upset if we even try- it's her thing and I love that she likes to do it. 2) She also only bakes with nobody in the kitchen or even in the living room for that matter. To take this picture I had to be 10 feet away and then promise to leave as soon as it was taken. 

 

Alone with her tunes and a mixer, making a cake she won't even eat because she doesn't like Key Lime. She is truly an amazing young lady. Giving without asking what's in it for me. Oh and since she thought the Key Lime wasn't GREEN enough she added more GREEN food coloring for us. 

  Ahh and the mess left behind. Good thing she as dishes tonight after her homework is done .

Eucharist

Receiving Jesus in the Holy Eucharist is such a wonderful gift, that as Catholic Christians I think we take for granted. We don't always grasp the AW and WONDER in the SACRAMENT.
The Holy Eucharist is a SACRAMENT and a SACRIFICE. In the Holy Eucharist, under the appearances of bread and wine, the Lord Christ is contained, offered, and received. The whole Christ is REALLY, TRULY, and SUBSTANTIALLY present in the Holy Eucharist. We use the words "really, truly, and substantially" to describe Christ's presence in the Holy Eucharist in order to distinguish Our Lord's teaching from that of mere men who falsely teach that the Holy Eucharist is only a sign or figure of Christ, or that He is present only by His power. Christ gives us His own body and blood in the Holy Eucharist: first, to be offered as a sacrifice commemorating and renewing for all time the sacrifice of the cross; second, to be received by the faithful in Holy Communion; third, to remain ever on our altars as the proof of His love for us, and to be worshiped by us.

Faith

Ahhh teenagers. I try to talk to my teens about the Catholic church and encourage them on their journey; but sometimes it's so hard to not say WHY DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND???? One knows there is a GOD but with all the different religions out there they doesn't want to take a stand on any of them. Instead it's  WELL I DON'T KNOW WHAT I BELIEVE, and the other one says they JUST DON'T BELIEVE in anything. It breaks my heart and I will continue to pray for their conversion and to bring them to Mass with me.

Today my son and I had a chance to have a long talk about faith and what he knows to be TRUE. He asked questions,  I asked questions and the answers were very close. I think he's a afraid to take that LEAP OF FAITH especially when others around him could care less.  I do in my heart believe both kids will allow God to embrace them and will walk in the Faith. It's always seems so much easier to go about life with out any "rules". Continued prayer is always welcomed.

     

Virtue

Today's photo challenge is VIRTUE. This was a hard one to come up with as far as getting something that portrays VIRTUE on film; and then it hit me. My teenage daughter wears a tank top EVERYDAY. What a tank top? How is that have anything to do with VIRTUE? Well let me tell you. She wears one under her regular tops everyday. She makes sure everything that needs to be covered is covered. She has a ton of them. It's kind of fun to shop for them too, we found a store that has them for $1 once a month so we search for any colors or patterns that she doesn't have yet. She makes sure they are the right color to match the top she would wear with it. Best of all she is the one who thought to do this. It is so much apart of her style that any regular top we do buy we make sure she has a coordinating tank to go on under it.

Lent

Today is Ash Wednesday and the beginning of the Lenten season. 40 days to examine my life. To Pray. To Fast. To Give Alms. Yeah I know I should be doing all those things anyway, and I do but this is the time to check myself. Not for a day or even a week but for 40 days, to change me for the better. To do more in LOVE with GOD and to THANK HIM in ALL that I SAY and DO.
As a way for me to document my journey this Lent I joined a 40 day photo challenge. I know that doesn't seem very life changing but it's just a part of what I'll be doing this Lent. Today's word is DUST. I grabbed my camera and started taking pictures but nothing conveyed what I wanted until I went to the front door and turned around and saw what people see when they first step into my home. An old vanity passed down to me from my Mom who got from one of her sisters.

The hole and the dust kind of symbolize my life. I know with the Lords guidance and my working hard all will be healed. So I thought I was done with my DUST photo challenge, but GOD had other plans. As I was walking into the office I saw my Bible by the computer, with guess what on it. Yep DUST. I immediately started dusting my Bible, and then it HIT me to take a picture. There is a reason for the hole and dust in my life, and the way to fix it is to open the Bible and pray.