St. Stephen

Saint Stephen

Feast day: December 26

Patron of Stonemasons

Stephen's name means "crown," and he was the first disciple of Jesus to receive the martyr's crown. Stephen was a deacon in the early Christian Church. The apostles had found that they needed helpers to look after the care of the widows and the poor. So they ordained seven deacons, and Stephen is the most famous of these.

God worked many miracles through St. Stephen and he spoke with such wisdom and grace that many of his hearers became followers of Jesus. The enemies of the Church of Jesus were furious to see how successful Stephen's preaching was. At last, they laid a plot for him. They could not answer his wise argument, so they got men to lie about him, saying that he had spoken sinfully against God. St. Stephen faced that great assembly of enemies without fear. In fact, the Holy Bible says that his face looked like the face of an angel.

The saint spoke about Jesus, showing that He is the Savior, God had promised to send. He scolded his enemies for not having believed in Jesus. At that, they rose up in great anger and shouted at him. But Stephen looked up to Heaven and said that he saw the heavens opening and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.

His hearers plugged their ears and refused to listen to another word. They dragged St. Stephen outside the city of Jerusalem and stoned him to death. The saint prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!" Then he fell to his knees and begged God not to punish his enemies for killing him.

After such an expression of love, the holy martyr went to his heavenly reward. His feast day is December 26th.

Until tomorrow, God Bless, and gain strength from knowing there are those who will die for the faith. 

Newtown

Prayers Needed

    Tonight I am asking for people to keep those in Newtown Con in your prayers tonight. Please pray for the families that lost their children and those who lost their lives protecting them as well. There is no words that can comfort those in this time. 

Power Supply

Power Supply

"But you, beloved, build yourselves up in your most holy faith; pray in the holy Spirit" ~ Jude 1:20

There comes a time when we all need to recharge and just take it in. We are always on the go. Heading from one thing to the next and not stopping along the way. That is how I felt yesterday. All these things going on and new decisions to be made. I needed to step back and just take the time to charge.

      God does not want us to be stressed when it comes to the life. It is not His want for us. We put more on ourselves then God ever will. I know I do for sure. We get wrapped up on how or what we are to be doing then doing it and living it. It really is not as complicated as we make it out to be. 

      There are times where this life can get complicated and it is not always in our hands but those are the times when it is best to step back and take the time. I am not even so sure when those times are happening do we need to open the bible or pray extra. I think honestly those times we need to just step back and take it in and relax. 

       God does not have a number in His head to the amount of times we need to pray, read the bible or say the rosary. All of those things are for us and we create that stress of what we need or should be doing. Yes, He wants us to turn to Him but there is not a set amount of times or ways to do it. If you are feeling stressed out that you are not doing your best, understand that is coming from within yourself. 

      When we start to feel this, stop and step back. Realize what you have done and where you have come from. Look at what you have done and gain that strength and power from those good things and let the bad go by the wayside. It is about what we focus on and we either gain or lose power from it. Many things drain us and you need to find out what gives you power vs what does not. 

       Start to power up by making a list that makes you gain and keep that handy. When you start to feel drained look at that list and start to do some of them. It does not just have to be spiritual things. It may be just doing a hobby that you enjoy. Everything in life will take a hit if you do not have the power to supply to it. 

Until tomorrow, God Bless, and find a power source. 

Plugging In

Plugging In

"But you, beloved, build yourselves up in your most holy faith; pray in the holy Spirit" ~ Jude 1:20

 Tonight there will not be a traditional blog. I am in need of plugging into some good old prayer time tonight. There is times when we really do need to recharge and get things back to 100%. I am looking forward to some extra time tonight to get recharged and be able to get back to the normal. Of course I will be reflecting on how to recharge ourselves for the next blog. 

 Until tomorrow, God Bless, and may you get the chance to recharge. 

Our Lady of Guadalupe

Our Lady of Guadalupe

   With it being the night before the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe I felt the need to post about it. It is my favorite of all the images of Mary. I hope that you all have a blessed and holy feast day today. May God Bless you all. 

Feastday: December 12

Patron of the Americas

Our Lady of Guadalupe December 12 (USA) When we reflect on the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe we learn two important lessons, one of faith and one of understanding.

Missionaries who first came to Mexico with the conquistadors had little success in the beginning. After nearly a generation, only a few hundred Native Mexicans had converted to the Christian faith. Whether they simply did not understand what the missionaries had to offer or whether they resented these people who made them slaves, Christianity was not popular among the native people.

Then in 1531 miracles began to happen. Jesus' own mother appeared to humble Juan Diego. The signs -- of the roses, of the uncle miraculously cured of a deadly illness, and especially of her beautiful image on Juan's mantle -- convinced the people there was something to be considered in Christianity. Within a short time, six million Native Mexicans had themselves baptized as Christians.

The first lesson is that God has chosen Mary to lead us to Jesus. No matter what critics may say of the devotion of Mexicans (and Mexican descendants) to Our Lady of Guadalupe, they owe their Christianity to her influence. If it were not for her, they would not know her son, and so they are eternally grateful. The second lesson we take from Mary herself. Mary appeared to Juan Diego not as a European madonna but as a beautiful Aztec princess speaking to him in his own Aztec language. If we want to help someone appreciate the gospel we bring, we must appreciate the culture and the mentality in which they live their lives. By understanding them, we can help them to understand and know Christ. Our Lady of Guadalupe is patron of the Americas.

Until tomorrow, God Bless, and may Our Lady wrap you in Her Mantle of peace and love.

O, Come All Ye Faithful

O, Come All Ye Faithful

  Tonight coming home, O, Come All Ye Faithful came on and I started thinking this really is a song to keep us focused. It is a call for all of us to come and adore Him. This is a time to focus on the true meaning of Christmas. That all of us, the faithful, are saved because of the miracle of the birth of our Savior. 

    It is easy to get caught up in all of the shopping and running around to push aside what the true gift was all these years ago. God’s gift for us is one that we all can choose to except and believe in or not. We can put that gift in our back closets and never open or use that gift in our lives.

    I hope that this song will help remind us all that as the “Faithful” we are to come and adore Him in this season and for the rest of the year. Below you will see the video for Chris Tomlin's version of O, Come All Ye Faithful.

Until tomorrow, God Bless, and may your faith show you the way to adore Christ this season. 

Week 2 of Advent

Week 2 of Advent

Welcome to the second week of Advent. This weeks message is that of Peace. Most of the time when we hear the word Peace we associate it with war. That there is now no more violence and things are calm. In the case of Advent we have to take it to another level, that inner peace as well. 

      Inner Peace is something that we all need in our lives but not as easy to get. We all have internal struggles. There are things that we hold inside ourselves that makes that full inner peace hard to achieve. It may be that we hold resentment, anger, frustration, or hate for the people that are in our lives or that were in our lives. To have that inner peace all those things need to decrease so that peace can increase. 

     It is hard to let go of those things that people have done or said to you and to forgive and let go. Those feelings hold us down and control us. That control keeps us from moving forward in all of the areas of our lives. The weight of those things drag us under and we can drown in our own anger and hate. This advent try and decrease those things so that Jesus can increase in your life. 

     As Jesus increases in your life those things will get easier and easier to decrease. Start that increase during Advent and welcome that peace for the New Year.

Until tomorrow, God Bless, and let the peace of Advent increase. 

We long for your peace, and trust in your promise; we hear your call to turn toward you, to change our lives and welcome you in. Meet us here and fill our minds with your wisdom and our hearts with your peace, that our worship together may open us to the challenge of your dream of wholeness for all. In the Name of the One who is coming, we pray. Amen