Walk in the Light and NOT in the darkness. Light is from God. He guides us where we can see and not fall. He is Truth and holy and good.
Evil is darkness, when we walk in total darkness we fall, we are lost, and afraid.
Jesus leads us this Lent and every day in the light and guides us out of darkness and into His Divine light!
Evil and darkness brings fear and anger and hurt and danger. Light is happy, it brings joy to us, peace and direction. Today, walk in the Light of your faith. Ask God to expel all darkness, all fear, all the unknowing, God IS Light and as we walk with Him and In Him, we become one with the Light. Stay far from darkness today, gossip, hate, anger, fear, worry, lies, and lack of prayer, and trust in God.
Walk with God and let Him guide you, hold you, embrace you, and love you. Speak kindly, lovingly, afirm the good in people, ask for peace in your hearts, homes and lives and for others. Don't get angry.. get prayerful. God knows what you need, be open to receive it.
Pray from your hearts and invite God and His light into you and your home and your world! God is LIght, in Him there is NO darkness. Be filled with God, and be filled with Light! Light destroys the darkness. Walk with the Lord today, invite Him into your home as your guest. Invite Him into your worries and let Him take them away. Ask Him to dispel all fear, and put on the Light of Love !!
Ask for yourselves, and your families, and loved ones and the sick and hurting and dying, and for our world which today is in a LOT of darkness and is lost, we need to pray and ask God for light and righteousness for our Nation and our world to gather us all into His Light to find our way!
God bless you today and always, Be light for others, stay away from darkness.
I promise you my Love and many prayers,
~Father Ray and Dublin 🙂 We will pray for ALL of you today, and always! We Promise! 🙂
Today is what I would call a typical March day; cloudy, cool, a little wind and kind of dreary. Just another day, and looking forward to something better to come along.
A lot of times, this is how we think of Lent. Fasting from meat on Fridays, Fish Fries, and just counting down until Easter is here and we can eat those jelly beans and chocolate bunnies and put Lent behind us for another year.
Nothing could be farther from the truth!
Lent is it's own very important season! It is preparation for something awesome and life-changing, but it is just as important.
If someone is having surgery, there is preparation for it. They can't eat before it, they have to fast. They have to do some things differently to get ready for it. They go to a different place, a hospital, not just stay at home and have it all done there. They have to prepare emotionally. They would pray to God for success and for the doctors and nurses and ask their friends and family to pray for them, too. They would have to change things around such as not take this medicine, but take this and avoid that, etc.. In other words, "They have to prepare for the big event to happen that would hopefully be successful in changing them for the better and the long-run"!
Lent is this preparation. Don't rush it, don't ignore it, and don't neglect it! To make Lent successful, it takes energy on our part, commitment, free will and will power, prayer, hope, action and dedication, and LOVE! Yes, Love, for God and for the good of our soul and the souls of all God's Holy people! We are in this together.
It is responsible that we set aside time each day, usually the same time each day, for private prayer. Saying, or rather, Praying our prayers. Reading the Holy Scriptures, especially the Passion Narratives in the bible. Spiritual books, lives of the Saints, and if we can, daily Holy Mass. The Holy Rosary, praying the Rosary slowly, reflectively, thinking about the mysteries of the Holy Rosary and the Hail Mary's and the Our Fathers, and our Creed we pray at the beginning.. reminding us, slowly meditating on each sentence, what exactly we believe as Catholics and in the Holy Church founded by Jesus Christ Himself.
Lent is so important to understand Easter. Lent is our time, like Jesus, in the desert, to empty ourselves and fill ourselves and others with the Grace given to us by God, and to help us focus on Who we are, What we are and Where are are going with the help of our Faith. Use these days wisely and prayerfully. Move forward and ignore the devil telling you to give it up, skip a day, or that it is not so important. Lent will make or break the experience of Easter! May we pray for each other each day from our hearts, especially those having a hard and rough time of it.
God bless you today and every day! In Jesus and Mary,
~Father Ray and Dublin 🙂
I had no internet all day as it snowed again very hard.. in many areas around the cabin and the grounds the snow is over my head! Lots of things are over my head, though!
Like how much God loves us. We goof up so much, we ignore Him for long period of times, sometimes we only remember Him when we need something, and we want it right then and there, so we call on God to answer us in our time instead of HIS time!
Life never came with instructions! We are guided by our parents when we are young, and by the Holy Church, by priests and teachers and people we look up to, wondering how they got all this knowledge and wisdom and answers, but then we realize it was the same way we do, through time, through prayer, through patience, through our mistakes and the mistakes of others, especially those we love and look up to. Funny to think our parents were once as confused as we are! But the answer is to give ourselves some space, some time, some guidance, and a lot of love! We grow each day, if we want to, and we stifle ourselves if we choose to.
God has the answers to things when we don't even know the questions. We are, and I am afraid to say this.. but, we are NOT perfect! In fact, we are pretty far from it.
We need to remember that, when someone does something we don't like, or says something that accidently hurts us, especially someone very close to us, It is so easy to jump to conclusions and feel hurt.
We can make mistakes without even knowing about it and hurt someone, but we need not get mad when they get angry with us, but find out why and then see what we can do in the Spirit of Jesus.
A long time ago when I was doing an RCIA class for those coming into the Faith, I was asked a question by a member of the group about being an Extraordinary Minister of the Eucharist at Holy Mass. She asked me who could be a Eucharistic minister, and I simply replied any person who is in good standing with the Church, is registered in a parish, has permission from his/her pastor, is a good practicing Catholic, and has no impediments.
The question was then raised "What is an Impediment"? "Good question", I replied. Someone who is in keeping with the Churches' teachings, for example, is not, say divorced and remarried outside the Church without an annulment. I gave that as a "for-instance".
The next think I knew the lady got up and left in tears. I went after her and asked what was the matter. She looked at me in tears and said to me: "You knew I was divorced and remarried, and now they all know and I cannot be a Catholic!"
I did not know she was divorced and re-married, and an innocent answer she asked me hurt her deeply. I got her to sit back down with the group. Afterwards, I explained we could look to see about an annulment. She had very solid grounds for her divorce and for a Church annulment. I worked with her and did all the paper work, and we got her annulment, and she was a Eucharist minister in her parish until she passed a few years ago.
Words hurt, and we don't mean to hurt, But we can help others who need it, and God makes us aware of it. Good can always come from a hard situation if we pray, if we love and if we care.
This Lent, pray from your hearts, and pray throughout your day! Love, and do it unconditionally and it will make a difference. And Care for each other and show compassion and be as patient as you can be. Prayer brings compassion and love. When we pray, God is right there with us, to help and to guide, and give us what we need for ourselves and for others!
God bless you always.
In Jesus and Mary and Saint Joseph,
~Father ray and my little pal, Dublin
Such a beautiful Sunday! The sun is so bright and we haven't seen the sun in weeks! What a joy!
Simple things can bring us so much joy! We don't need a parade or fanfare or anything huge! We have simple hearts that love simple things: like today, a sunny day even with all the snow and cold, it is sunny here and people are happy! It sure makes me happy!
The BIlls didn't get to the Super Bowl, but they had a terrific season and we are proud of them.
Dublin sees me at the computer, and he wants to sit on my lap while I type, so up he jumps, we hug, he looks deep into my eyes and gives me big sloppy wonderful kiss on the nose, and I hug him back and kiss his forehead and we say how much we love each other! I say it in words, he doesn't need words, we both know it!
This First Sunday in Lent is a new adventure. We get direction through the Holy Scriptures, knowing we are all in this journey together, and trying new ways to pray, to abstain, to do new and wonderful simple things for others, and to be refreshed by God in this gift He and the Holy Church are giving us.
Lent is an opportunity… a HUGE, beautiful, wonderful opportunity! A time to grow closer to God. To renew our friendship with the Lord, to grow and pray and learn more about our Catholic Faith, the Saints, and the Angels, The History of the Church and why we do what we do!
At Holy Mass we hear in the homily an explanation of the Holy Scriptures and how it applies to today in our every day life. We get new ideas how to live a good and holy life, to sacrifice for others and for God, to invite God into our hearts and souls and homes, to show our family and children how to live a good and holy life by including God in everything!
Let the children see you pray, not for reasons of pride and a show, but to show them by example how important God is in your life. They will lean quickly through your example. Pray with them, and teach them how to pray and show them new prayers to pray. Talk about God, and ask them questions. We don't have all the answers, but God supplies the answers we need, all we need to do is Trust in God and have No Fear!
Husbands and wives, pray together this Lent, maybe a Holy Rosary, or novenas, or just spontaneous prayers together, I would highly recommend the Holy Rosary. If you need Rosaries or a booklet on how to pray the Rosary, I will send them to you free of charge! My treat! (Although it will cost you one of the Hail Mary's you pray)!
Lent is not all sorrow and sack cloth and ashes, it can be a very joyful and wholesome and family gift from God and we grow in our Faith as the Holy Spirit will lead you and guide you every step… all you need is a willing heart and perseverance. But He does want us to repent from sin, that is number 1 on the list, and we can do it.
Lent is a time, however, also to repent of all sin. Make sure you get to Holy Confession, and don't put it off. You can go 2 times during Lent, or 3 or 4 if you choose, once will suffice, but when you make a good and holy Confession, you will see how wonderful it is to speak to God on a One-on-One basis in that Holy Sacrament, and you will want to go again soon, to keep your soul looking white as snow and feel the Purity and Graces that that Sacrament brings to you.
Very important: Try to go monthly, 12 times a year isn't asking that much of you, now is it? Find a good and holy priest to confess to, and you will see what a joy it is, and the strength you get from being absolved and making your soul as white and pure as it was the day you were Baptised!
Lent is here in full swing! Don't waste a day of it. Get excited over it, about fasting on Fridays and abstaining from meat, see how this time of changing makes perfect sense to you and embrace it. Don't look gloomy, feel the Grace of getting closer and closer to God right here on earth and how your life is changing for the better every day!
If you make a mistake, go back and "do-over"! God loves do-overs, and He loves it when we get right back up, laugh at the devil and turn to God again for renewed strength. Think positive. we are not perfect, but we are so loved by God. God is pure forgiveness, so we have nothing to be afraid of.. RUN TO GOD! Open your heart and family and soul and life to God!
Happy First Sunday of Lent.. don't get discouraged, God has this and is walking with you on your journey. Listen to Him in your prayer. Take quiet time, listen with your heart. Ask God: "Lord, I love you, speak to me, please and show me what You want me to do. Then.. away you go.. listen , and you will hear. Act, and you will grow.
God bless you always and feel my prayers and pray for me too!
In Jesus and Mary and Saint Joseph, walking with you too,
~Father ray and Dublin
Well..today, 35 years ago, I was Ordained a priest Of Jesus Christ at Saint Joseph's Church in Fredonia, New York, by Bishop Edward D.Head. A little rain in the morning, but the sun came out and it was a beautiful Day. My mom and dad were right there in the front seat, And so many of my priest friends and Deacons came to the Ordination, celebration Mass!
I wanted to be Ordained there, as the parish and people were so wonderful to me as their seminarian and then their Deacon. I was there for 2 years before Ordination, and I just fell in love with that parish!
Ordination is something so wonderful. To be able to bring Christ Jesus to others in all the events of their lives makes me speechless, to be there at their birth and Baptism, to hear their first holy confession and be able to absolve their sins in Jesus' Name, to give them Jesus for the First time at First Holy Communion, teach them for Confirmation, be there for their marriage, and unite them together for Life in Jesus Name in that Holy Sacrament, and to be there to make sure all is right with them when they are ill in the Holy Sacrament of Anointing the sick, and the dying. There is nothing like it in the whole universe!
I will keep you all very close in my heart and in my prayers today.
I am going to celebrate my day with Holy Mass in my little Chapel. I was hoping to celebrate Holy Mass at Holy Trinity parish,where I assist, but that was before this virus, So I am using my Chalice I got for my ordination, and wearing the vestments I was ordained in and celebrated my First Mass in, all dry cleaned and ready for today. 🙂 I am so happy to celebrate Holy Mass today in my humble, beautiful and holy little Chapel where i spend so much time before the Most Blessed Sacrament in Holy Prayer. I pray so hard for all of you when you ask me for prayers in this little place of holiness.
I thank God with the greatest of humility for the Holy Gift of Priesthood, and I have to be the happiest priest in the world!! God has been and is so good to me, and I am so thankful and truly Blessed! You are my blessing! I see Christ in ALL of you!
May the Lord bless you all and keep you close to His heart! Feel all my prayers for you, and pray for your priests. Pray hard for all your priests, Deacons, Seminarians, Religious Sisters and Brothers, and all who serve God.
Have a wonderful day and feel all the love and prayers.
I bless you all in my priestly blessings:
In the Name of the Father + and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit +. May the Lord Bless you and keep you safe and fill you all with Peace and Love.
Always count your blessings..they are many!
Love and prayers...
~Father ray...🙂
This Saturday would have been my dad's birthday, he would have turned 107! This Sunday is 35 years since I was Ordained a priest. I can't believe how fast time goes by. Our life is so much like the Holy Marriage vows, we have "good times and bad, sickness and health", but through it all, God is with us! Some days are harder than others. Some days are better!
We have Seasons of the year, and we have seasons of our lives. Each has it's own beauty and joy, each has its own trials and difficulties.
People love Spring, but, one day it is warm, the other day it is cold. Nice to see the snow gone, but all those leaves from last Fall to clean up. It is great to put out the outside furniture, but there is so much work and spring cleaning to do.. Lent, Holy Week, Easter Sunday, family gatherings begin. Snow occasionally comes in even in early May!
Summer is great, we say..We can't wait! Then all the flies come out, bees and wasps, Warm temperatures, then heat waves and too hot to sleep. Picnics and activities, games and fun, Fairs and farmers markets, fresh tomatoes and corn, vacations and gatherings. Swimming, sun burns, trips to the ER, Mowing the lawns, gardening, pulling weeds, deer eating our produce.. too hot, too rainy, not enough rain.. summer!
Then Autumn, cooler evenings, sweaters come out, beautiful tree's of all colors to see and love, auto shows, back to school, getting darker earlier, summer re-runs are over and new shows and our old favorite ones start up again, raking leaves and dead gardens, first frost, putting things away for the season, Halloween and Thanksgiving, the first Christmas music starts.
Then Winter, the first beautiful snowfall, getting ready for the holidays, Christmas and New Years, decorations, stress of Christmas shopping and sending out cards, snow shoveling, snow blowing, snow plowing, snow mobiles, snow in general! Dark dark nights, dark when you go to bed, dark when you wake up. Beautiful winter skies. Snow boarding, skiing, sledding, skating. More shoveling. Ice on the roof. Dreaming of Spring.. praying for Spring.. hoping for Spring.. The very first Robin appears.. and it all starts over again...
What I mean to say is, all days have good, and some bad. All seasons are wonderful, and yet all have a down-side. We take the good with the bad. It is a package deal. A walk in the woods is lovely and refreshing, but poison ivy, not so much. (well..scratch that..) Seasons change, time moves on, we grow older and wiser, it is LIFE!
Pray for each other at all times and seasons. Some may be having a wonderful day, some may be having one of the most difficult days of their lives, we are all One. God is with us in all seasons of our lives. Look to the love of God.. and know it gets better. Life isn't on a level plain.. it is up and down, right now our world is going more towards a down time.. history shows us this is inevitable, but things change. Prayer changes things, prayer changes people, prayer changes situations as sure as the seasons change, and there is always good and bad..the focus is on the good.
Pray today, for the person, known to you or a complete stranger, who is having a difficult day. Pray in Thanksgiving that we are here together and for happy memories and good tomorrows. We are caught up in part of a season of life. Seasons change. There are good and not-so-good times. But one thing will never change, and that is that things will always change!
God bless you! Have a great day..look to the Light! Remember, every day has something good in it.. find it, hug it, say "I love you" to it.. and thank God for it! 🙂
Today, as we Celebrate the Holy Feast of the Annunciation by the Arch Angel Gabriel, Put yourself in that room where the Angel appeared to the Blessed Virgin Mary, with the Good News that Jesus the Saviour would be born of Her, the very Son of God made man.
Imagine Mary, so humble and innocent. How beautiful are those who trust in the Lord!
Mary's response to the Angel/Messenger of God was simply:
"I am the Handmaid of the Lord. Let it be done to me according to Your Word"!
Mary didn't argue with the Arch Angel. She didn't ask for a signed agreement or thought or asked "Well..what about "me", and how will this affect me and the rest of my life"?
Mary's response was ALL about GOD and HIS WILL!!
The translation of "handmaid" can mean, "servant", or even the substitute for "scrub woman".. a mere "nothing" in the eyes of the world".
But Mary Changed the world forever. Through Her "yes" to God, it affected everyone forever.
Why do we keep questioning God and His ways? Why don't we trust Him?
God does what is best for us. He LOVES us with a love we could never comprehend! He asks us to pray, and to Trust.
Today.. is it so hard to say to God: "Let it be done to me according to your Will"?
In prayer and Faith.. it is so possible..
Let it all be done to us according to God's will, as we have faith, love and care for each other!
The Lord God and our dear Blessed Mother are here for us.. in every fear, problem, worry, and care.
Trust them. Tell Them you Love them, SHOW them you love Them by a simple, humble, "Yes Lord, Your will be done"
God bless you. Love and many prayers, ~Father ray🙂
I think, and I am getting the strong feeling, that with all the media hype and changes in our daily routine, we are forgetting something very important: We are in LENT!
I ask you please read my little reflection OUT LOUD, slowly, and prayerfully.
Lent is a time of change. Lent means we do things differently, give things up, turn to God with all our Hearts, not telling God what WE want, but showing God through our actions and love, and patience and kindness and humility that we want to do and be Who HE wants.
Jesus gave up everything, right down to His earthly life , and He did this for US! He did it out of Love for us, and Love for the Father. Jesus "inconvenienced Himself for us. In these past days, that should sound very familiar to all if us.
Jesus' prayer in the garden should be our prayer everyday:
"Father, if it is Your Will, take this cup away from Me, Yet, Not My Will, but YOUR Will be done".
Jesus asks us as His disciples: "Can you drink of the Cup I drink from?" We answer: "We can".
Jesus tells us: "Then from the cup i drink of you shall also drink".
We share in the Sacrifice of Jesus. We share His sufferings, His agony, His surrender to the Will of God, and in His death we also share.
But here is the thing: WE also share in His Resurrection and His Life!
These trials we are going through, these fears put on us by a media that can't seem to scare us enough, the restrictions put on us today, binding us like they did to Jesus at the scourging at the pillar, it is all a share in His passion, death and resurrection..
Can't you see this? Can't you feel it? Don't you know it in your heart?
If we do not share in this with Christ Jesus, we have no share in the Kingdom of God! We miss the whole meaning of Lent and sacrifice. Do we remember "Sacrifice"? Have we forgotten this is Lent? Are we selfish and run like many of the disciples did? Do we deny Jesus and His Holy Passion as Peter did, or even worse, run away and die as Judas did? Is our Faith in God that weak?
Embrace Jesus and His Cross, it is our Cross too, we share in it,, sometimes more than other times.
This is Lent. Follow the steps of Jesus. Yes, offer up these Sacrifices for others, just as Jesus did. Be patience. Be kind. And, Beware..the devil is lurking and trying to scare us, tempt us, get us to forget that this is Holy Lent.
Pray, fast, hope, love! Reach out to Jesus, and He will reach out to you. Offer up not being able to go to Holy Mass in person. That is a HUGE Sacrifice for us. Pray and never cease to pray, morning, noon and night and all hours in-between.
Live Lent, like we never lived it before with Hope and charity!
God bless you all. Let us all keep each other in Holy Prayer.
Lent means sacrifice, not complaining, not grumbling, not running away, it means staying close to the Cross of Jesus, because He is carrying it, and He is On It! And in a very real and mystical and holy way, we are doing the same after Him.
I am praying and offering up my Holy Masses for YOU every day. God bless you. Open yourself up to God. This is Lent, never forget that!
We need to take life day by day. Whether things are just going along as usual, or in the face of what we are experiencing as a world this very day, the same goes for both situations! We need to take each day as it comes, and do the very best we can each day. We only have this day. God has eternity!
Sometimes, in the storms of life we ask God where He is? Like Saint Peter trying to walk to Jesus on the water in the storm.
Peters question "Lord, if it is really you, tell me to come to you on the water", and Jesus replied with just one word: "Come"!
I will give Peter credit, for at the beginning of this request to Jesus, Peter had a lot of strength at first, can you imagine getting out of a boat as the waves are tossing it to and fro? It is dark night, and a horrible storm, to get out of the boat took courage. This is us, today!!
We are asking God to get us out of the boat that is being tossed by the storm of sickness and fear, hysteria and the unknown.We are afraid.
BUT! Now Peter is headlong into the storm, the wind, the waves, the tossing and turning, and this was new stuff for Peter, he never walked on water before. He took his eyes off Jesus and focused now on the storm!
What happens when we take our eyes off Jesus?
We sink!
We begin to fall very quickly because we are looking at the storm we are in and not to the Lord, Who is always with us.
Remember, sometimes the Lord calms the storms, and then sometimes He let the storms rage and calms His child in the storms.
God is there, everywhere. He knows. But it is up to us to choose to focus on the storm, or focus on Jesus who brings us out of the storms of life!
As a priest, I can only do what I can do right now. I have to Trust Jesus to put me where I can do the most good. I ask only to be used by Him! I want to do so much more, but right now I have to trust God that in what little I can do, I can do that with trust and love and confidence that this is what Jesus is calling me to.
God's will, not mine. God's Time not mine.
The disciples felt the same way when Jesus was being crucified. They could do just so much. Some stayed close to the Lord, some didn't. But Jesus never moved. He stayed with them in love, and continued to call them in that same Love.
Don't look at the storm, Look to Jesus. Don't focus on Fear, focus on Trust. Be ONE with God, and let God be One with you.
Pray Pray Pray. Open your heart to Jesus. You will NOT sink, you will be upheld in more than this.
My Jesus, I place my Trust in You. The Lord is present always. GLORY BE TO THE FATHER, AND TO THE SON, AND TO THE HOLY SPIRIT!
As it was in the beginning (past) Is now (Present) and Ever shall be (Future) World with out end, AMEN!
God is testing us, Do we run, are we in fear? Are we hording and thinking of only ourselves, or are we kind and promote goodness in times of trouble and help our neighbor and give good example in deep trials? Do we sink or have the faith that Jesus is reaching out to us to guide us through the storm of darkness and into His faithfulness and peace!
Pray today for inner peace. The media is way out of line, scaring people, taking hope away, the world acts in just this way..Don't follow them!
God gives peace. It touches the whole body, soul, mind and spirit! God gives Healing because God IS Healing! All you need to do is pray and trust! Pray and Trust.
Give up your cares, worries, fears, anxieties, these are not from God, these are from the evil one who steals away our peace! Don't let evil steal that peace and love away from you. Evil only brings you worry and despair.
Give these things to God and invite through Holy Prayer and love the Peace that Jesus gave us as His gift at the Last Supper! "Peace is my gift to you, MY PEACE I GIVE TO YOU"!
Let the Lord's peace calm you, heal you, so you will feel His love, His smile and His concern. Jesus knows what is best and only gives GOOD things to us. Evil robs us from this peace, don't but into it.
Pray! Pray from your heart. Let us continue to pray for each other. Throughout this day Thank God, invite Him in to your home and heart and family. God loves you, do not be distracted.
God bless you! God is blessing you. God wants to bless you. Receive these blessings from His Hand with an open heart and open soul! You belong to God! God protects everything thing that is His own!
We still have snow up here on the hill, but it is melting with the sun and some warmth. There are mounds of snow where I plowed, but now it is mixed with dirt and crusty, old blackened snow that has turned into frozen ice. A lot of the green grass is still covered, but I can see clearing and it gives me a lot of hope.
This reminds me of Lent in a very real way!
When it snows and it is so beautiful and covers everything with fresh, clean snow, it is like God's Grace!
It is beautiful and gives us inside and out a feeling of beauty, holiness, and just seeing everything pure white is just awesome!
Then, as time goes on, we sin, we let our guard down for temptation, we gossip, we lie, we become more selfish instead of self-giving, and that beautiful white Grace, so pure and wholesome becomes thin, dirty, icy cold and the joy is vanishing.
Holy Confession, and all our Lenten fasting and prayers cleans us and refreshes us, and we see from the dirty, old, icy mounds of snow, that God's Light and warmth melt that ugliness away and we are renewed, new again, like the hope of Spring and new life of green grasses, sunshine, warmth, flowers growing and colors alive all around us!
Don't live in the darkness of the past, Come to God in holy prayer, get to confession often, at least twice during Lent, and let go of the icy darkness, the dirtiness of piling old sin and new sin upon our soul, and give it all to God.
Cleanse your heart and soul and body with the beauty of God's Grace!
Refresh yourselves! Go to God. Surround yourselves with God, in Holy Prayer. Don't stay in the darkness of winter's end, Go to God and become new, clean, happy and filled with Grace that only welcomes God and His gifts of grace to us, charity, hope, peace, happiness, and who we truly are, not filled with dirty snow, icy blackened cold hearts and souls, but warm, holy, peaceful apostles of Jesus!
God bless you and let's keep praying for each other today and throughout Holy Lent! I love you all, so does Jesus. We show Him our Love through our actions, as we do for one another!
Reflection by Fr. Ray on his Facebook page on 2/27/20
No internet all day because of the snow. Expecting 18 inches or more by Saturday. I got up early to celebrate Holy Mass in town, and Exposition and Novena's and Holy Benediction following, as I do every Thursday. I wanted to start my plow truck to make sure all was good on Wednesday evening, but it wouldn't start. The battery seemed good but I put the trickle charger on it all night. This morning,it still wouldn't start. Something else was wrong.
On the way to Holy Mass, I prayed the Rosary, and I asked God to allow me to plow, as the snow was getting really high, and with the strong wind was drifting into very tall drifts.
Afterwards, the truck still did not start, but my friend called her husband (also my friend) who came and got it started for me so I could plow. He crawled under my truck, gave a couple of taps with his hammer on the starter, and "Ta Da"! it started!This is a God-send! God always answers our prayers, but in many circumstances, not in the way we expected it. My truck started and I plowed out the driveway.. a very long long driveway.
Lent is so much like this, and reminds us that God helps us to prepare a path for Him to be in our lives, and a path for us to be one with God!
Keep praying. Never stop! God hears you. God listens. God even inspires us to pray, but He loves it when we talk with Him, and He always answers our prayers.
Lent is a long, long driveway that needs to be cleared to make room for Him and our New self.. a newstart!
Prayer is that "tap tap tap" and Lent is what gets us started!
Remember, God is a Loving, caring and all-embracing God!
He loves you! He is with you. Sometimes we may not feel that right away, but it only makes us long for Him all the more.
God knows what we need. Sometimes we pray for what we want, not what we need, and sometimes the answer is "No".
Sometimes the answer is "Yes"!
Sometimes the answer is "Not yet".
And, sometimes the answer is "I have something so much better for you than what you asked for or wanted".
God is NOT a sort-of "vending machine" that we "insert a prayer" and "out comes the answer we want". He is personal, He is real and very, very touchable.
Be patient this Lent. Let God the Holy Spirit guide you. Let Him inspire you to greater things.
God is not "up-there" someplace. God is right Here with you, always. Talk to Him. We call that "Prayer".
Listen to Him, we call that "prayer".
Know God is listening and helping you. We call that "Faith".
God has faith in you. Have faith in God.
He keeps us plowing ahead, and keeps us trucking! He does it in His way..and that is awesome! He keeps us on the right road!
God bless you!! 🙂