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This is the day that the Lord has made; so let us rejoice and be glad. (Ps 118:24)
This beautiful article, "Service is my Business" describes the intention of this Website...:
Service is my Business
Chilean lyricist Gabriela Mistral, Nobel Prize winner for literature in 1945, wrote:
"It is blissful to be hale and hearty, but far and away more blissful is the quality of being of service to others. How gloomy the world would be if there were nothing more to do in it: if there were no rose bush to plant, nothing left to challenge. Don't allow yourself to be tied down by easy tasks. How wonderful it is to do things which ohters shun.
"Where there is tree to be planted, you go and plant it. Where a mistake is to be made up for, you go and make it up. Where there is a burden which others shy away from, you go and take it up. You be the one who removes the stone from the street, who eases the hatred and tensions that prevent two people from sitting down and solving their problem.
"The person who criticises dismantles; you be the person who builds up." (by: Gabriela Mistral in "Das Beste")
LOVEPEACEJOY
The pastor was so pleased with the donkey that he entered in another race and it won again.
The local paper read:
The Bishop was so upset with this kind of publicity that he ordered the pastor not to enter the donkey in any more races.
The next day the local paper headline read:
BISHOP SCRATCHES THE PASTOR'S ASS.
This was too much for the Bishop, so he ordered the pastor to get rid of the donkey.
The pastor decided to give it to a nun in a nearby convent.
The local paper, hearing of the news,
Posted the following headline:
NUN HAS THE BEST ASS IN TOWN.
The Bishop fainted.
He informed the nun that she would have to get rid of the donkey so she sold it to a farmer for $10.
The next day the headlines read:
NUN SELLS ASS FOR $10.
This was too much for the Bishop, so he ordered the nun to buy back the donkey and lead it to the high plains where it could run free.
NUN ANNOUNCES HER ASS
IS WILD AND FREE.
Alas .. The Bishop was buried the next day.
MORAL OF THE STORY???
Much grief and misery
And even shorten your life.
So, be yourself and enjoy life.
Stop worrying about everyone else's ass and you'll live longer
Sunday & Holy Day Homily (Year B)
COURAGE, FAITH & PERSEVERANCE
(EPIPHANY; Is 60:1-6; Eph 3:2-3,5-6; Mt 2:1-12)
Courage, faith, and perseverance. These are the qualities of the three wise men who succeeded in their search for a new-born Child, Jesus, with the help of the guiding star.
These are the qualities we need if we want to succeed with our new year's goals or resolutions, especially to a deeper friendship and loyalty to Christ.
How the friends of the wise men must have mocked them, "following a star? What on earth for? We're too busy with day-to-day affairs to care about a star." Nonetheless, the three wise men pursued their goal with courage.
Similarly, it takes courage to be faithful to pursue a goal or a resolution, or to one's religious conviction. at times the follower of Christ has to say NO when everybody is saying YES or say YES when everybody's saying NO.
Indeed it takes courage to be an honest Christian when the temptation to "make a fast buck" is great. It take s courage to remain faithful husband or wife in a society where infidelity and broken marriages abounds.
FAITH. Mathew says that the wise men "worshiped and offered their gifts."
Travelling from distant lands, they took the trouble to offer their best gifts of gold, frankencense and myrrh.
The great time and trouble you put in the preparation of a gift expresses your innermost sentiment. For the wise men, it was their sentiment of faith. Like the three wise men, we should offer God the best we have: something precious, costly. And this could be immaterial, like our time and talents.
How sad it is when God deserves only the crumbs of our time, when God is in the periphery of our activities, or if ever he is remembered at all.
That's why we have the Sunday public/community worship (Mass) which serves to remind us of God during a whole week of frenetic mundane activities.
PERSEVERANCE. This is the third lesson we can learn from the story of the wise men. They searched, travelled, and plodded until they achieved their goal.
In a society characterized by perennial new beginnings, ne technologies, unexpected distractions, happenings and events that prevent us from pursuing our goals or resolutions, we need perseverance and consistency if we need to succeed individually or as a family or as a parish community.
We pray, then, for courage, increase of faith in ourself and in God, and perseverance to achieve our goals and resolutions this year, setting our eyes on Christ, our True Light.
One final message of the Epiphany, of these three wise men travelling through the night guided only by a star, is that whatever our darkness, however deep the night, God's light is also there. Even if we are not fully aware of it, His light is there always to guide us to that perfect Light which is Jesus Christ.
Please click here to read previous Homilies...
Quotes Of The Month Archives
GIVING ABUNDANCE
"It is one of the most beautiful compensations of life, that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself."
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Realize that true happiness lies within you. Waste no time and effort searching for peace and contentment and joy in the world outside. Remember that there is no happiness in having or in getting, but only in giving. Reach out. Share. Smile. Hug. Happiness is a perfume you cannot pour on others without getting a few drops on yourself."
-- Og Mandino
"We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give." -- Norman MacEwan
"Wherever you go, whomever you meet, look for an opportunity to help, to inspire, to lend support."
-- Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson
"The charity that is a trifle to us can be precious to others." -- Homer
"Love only grows by sharing. You can only have more for yourself by giving it away to others." -- Brian Tracy
"The duty of helping one's self in the highest sense involves the helping of one's neighbors." -- Samuel Smiles
"One of the greatest gifts you can give to anyone is the gift of attention." -- Jim Rohn
"You can't be too kind or too generous." -- Patricia Fripp
*******
Giving/Sharing/Generosity
(by Jim Rohn)
It's best to start the discipline of generosity when the amounts are small. It's easy to give ten cents out of a dollar; it's a little harder to give a hundred thousand out of a million.
Giving is better than receiving because giving starts the receiving process.
Nothing teaches character better than generosity.
Here's what is exciting about sharing ideas with others: If you share a new idea with ten people, they get to hear it once and you get to hear it ten times.
Sharing makes you bigger than you are. The more you pour out, the more life will be able to pour in.
Somebody says, "Well, I can't be concerned about other people. About the best I can do is to take care of myself." Well, then you will always be poor.
What you give becomes an investment that will return to you multiplied at some point in the future.
When somebody shares, everybody wins.
The amount you give isn't important. What matters is what that amount represents in terms of your life.
Only by giving are you able to receive more than you already have.
"Only great souls know the grandeur there is in charity." Jacques BéNigne Bossuet
Chris widener's Commentary:
I believe in hard work. I believe in responsibility. I also believe that most people choose the state they will have in life. But even the small percentage of people who are truly in need constitutes an extremely large number. These are the forgotten people. They are people who have suffered from seemingly nothing of their own doing. Perhaps it was at the hands of another, perhaps they are left behind because of situations that will forever remain a mystery and from things that humans have questioned the reasons for forever. Perhaps they suffer regrettably from mistakes they made, even what we would call foolish mistakes. It is in these cases that I believe in charity. We who would strive to attain the heights have the responsibility of humanity to reach back and give to those who are less fortunate than ourselves. And it is not only responsibility that gives us reason. It keeps us in touch with humanity. It keeps us real. And it will help us to become even more successful - successful people.
Action Point: Many people become charitable during the holidays, but what about taking some time to becoming charitable all year round. Find someone or some group who needs your money, energy, talents and gifts. Then commit yourself to being charitable. In this you will find your grandeur. => Archives...
Thoughts to Live By
Money
Money is magnetic energy. You are a magnet attracting to you all things, via the signal you are emitting through your thoughts and feelings.
To become a powerful money magnet:
Be clear about the amount of money you want to receive. State it and intend it! Don't think about how much you can earn, but how much you want to receive.
Fall in love with money. Most people do not love money, because they always feel that they don't have enough of it.
Visualize and imagine yourself spending all the money you want, as though you have it already.
Speak, act, and think from the mindset of being wealthy now. Eliminate thoughts and words of lack such as "I can't afford it", "It is too expensive".
Do not speak or think of the lack of money for a single second.
Be grateful for the money you have. Appreciate it as you touch it.
Make lists of all the things you will buy with an abundance of money.
Do whatever it takes for you to feel wealthy.
Affirm to yourself every day that you have an abundance of money, and that it comes to you effortlessly.
Appreciate all the riches around you, including the riches of others. Look for wealth wherever you go, and appreciate it.
Be certain that money is coming to you.
Love yourself and know that you are deserving and worthy of an abundance of money.
Remind yourself everyday that you are a money magnet, and ask yourself often during the day, am I attracting money now or pushing it away with my thoughts?
Always, always pay yourself first from your wage, then pay your creditors. In that single act, you are telling the Universe that you are worthy and deserving of more.
Repeat over and over every day, "I am a money magnet and money comes to me effortlessly and easily."
Write out a check to yourself for the sum of money you would like to have and carry it in your wallet. Look at it often.
Do whatever it takes to feel good. The emotions of joy and happiness are powerful money magnets. Be happy now!
Love yourself!
Wealth is a mindset. Money is literally attracted to you or repelled from you. It's all about how you think.
Relationships
You can completely transform any relationship, no matter what it's like right now.
Every single relationship you have is a reflection of how you feel inside about you. You are a magnet attracting to you all things, via the signal you are emitting through your thoughts and feelings. Every relationship you have and every interaction with every person, is a reflection of your own thoughts and feelings in that very moment.
To transform every single relationship you have in your life:
Fall in love with YOU!
Make lists of hundreds and hundreds of wonderful things about you. Keep adding to it every day.
Know that you are perfect. Do not think any negative thoughts about you.
Know that you are worthy and deserving of anything and everything you could possibly want in your life.
Focus on the wonderful things in every person. Look for only those things.
Do not blame or criticize anybody, ever.
Set an intention that you are going to see the best in everything and everyone.
Make your happiness the number one thing in your life. Happiness is an inside job.
Free yourself of the responsibility of trying to make other people happy. Respect and love them enough to allow them to take care of their own happiness.
Get your attention off those things in others that don't make you feel good.
Appreciate and love yourself in every moment you can.
Do not expect others to behave in a way you want, so you will be happy. Release yourself forevermore and know that you alone control your happiness and it is a choice, no matter what anyone else is doing.
Love and respect yourself completely.
Know that you are perfect right now.
Health
You are a magnet attracting to you all things, via the signal you are emitting through your thoughts and feelings.
To open yourself up and become a powerful magnet to wellness and health from wherever you are now:
Love yourself! Deeply, profoundly! Make lists of all the wonderful things about you. Add to it every day.
Free yourself of any past resentments or disappointments you may be holding about you.
Let go of any and all resentments from the past you may be holding of everyone and everything.
See yourself as completely well in your mind and visualize yourself doing things in a complete state of perfect health.
Do not speak of your illness, or disease with others.
Love and appreciate everything and everyone, and especially yourself.
Know you have the power within you to heal yourself.
Never criticize or blame yourself or anyone else for anything.
Be grateful for the wellbeing that is coming to you.
See yourself as only well.
Be happy, knowing that in your state of happiness your body is healing itself.
As you appreciate, as you love, as you are happy, as you are grateful, you are summoning wellbeing and it is pouring through your body and disease is vanishing in the moment.
Laugh! Hire funny movies or recall any memories that make you laugh. Laugh your way back to health.
Make lists every day of all the things you are grateful for, including being grateful for your healing and complete wellbeing.
You must do whatever you can to remove your attention from disease.
Distract yourself from thoughts of disease, and put all of your focus and attention on doing things that make you feel good.
Make your happiness the number one thing in your life.
Resist nothing, love everything!
Know that there is no such thing as incurable.
As you love completely and feel the joy within you, disease cannot exist.
Know and accept that you are perfect as you are right now.
(pasted from: http://www.thesecret.tv/top-secret-summary-of-teachings.html)
Archives...
SUCESSSTORE
(Charting Your Course to Success Articles)
Ten Steps To Goal Getting - by Zig Ziglar
These ten steps will help you achieve your goals in 2009.
1. Make the commitment to reach your goal. "One person with a commitment is worth a hundred who only have an interest." Mary Crowley.
2. Commit yourself to detailed accountability. Record your progress toward your goals every night, and list the six most important things you need to do the next day. Daily discipline is the key to reaching your goals.
3. Build your life on a sold foundation of honesty, character, integrity, trust, love, and loyalty. This foundation will give you an honest shot at reaching any goal you have set properly.
4. Break your intermediate and long-range goals into increments.
5. Be prepared to change. You can't control the weather, inflation, interest rates, Wall Street, etc. Change your decision to move toward a goal carefully--but be willing to change your direction to get there as conditions and circumstances demand.
6. Share your "give-up" goals (i.e., give up smoking, being rude, procrastinating, being late, eating too much, etc.) with many people. Chances are excellent they're going to encourage you.
7. Become a team player. Remember: You can have everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want.
8. See the reaching. In your imagination see yourself receiving that diploma, getting that job or promotion, making that speech, moving into the home of your dreams, achieving that weight-loss goal, etc.
9. Each time you reach a goal your confidence will grow so that you can do bigger and better things. After accomplishing any goal, record it in your journal, Weekly Planner or Palm Pilot.
10. Remember, what you get by reaching your destination isn't nearly as important as what you become by reaching your goals--what you will become is the winner you were born to be!
Archives...
Meditation: Salt and Light
Christian: Who Are You?
You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.
You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.
In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.
Matthew 5:13-16 NIV
