"The Mother of Life" Part 4 of 4 Pro-Life Advent Reflections with Fr. Thomas Euteneuer.

"The Mother of Life" Part 4 of 4 Pro-Life Advent Reflections with Fr. Thomas Euteneuer.

"Rejoicing in the Lord" - Part 3 of 4 Pro-Life Advent Reflections with Fr. Thomas Euteneuer 2009.

"Rejoicing in the Lord" - Part 3 of 4 Pro-Life Advent Reflections with Fr. Thomas Euteneuer 2009.

2009 Pro-Life Advent Reflections with Fr. Thomas Euteneuer Part 2.

2009 Pro-Life Advent Reflections with Fr. Thomas Euteneuer - Part 2.

2009 Pro-Life Advent Reflections with Fr. Thomas Euteneuer - Part 1

2009 Pro-Life Advent Reflections with Fr. Thomas Euteneuer - Part 1.

For the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Hail Mary, full of Grace.
The Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God,
Pray for us sinners
Now and at the hour of our death.

Amen.

Prayer for our Nation’s Health Care Reform.

From http://www.priestsforlife.org/prayercampaign/

Prayer for our Nation’s Health Care Reform.

Lord Jesus, you are the Divine Physician,
And the source of all life and health.

Guide our nation at this critical moment,
As our government seeks health care reforms.

Give our elected officials the humility to know
That they are servants, not masters.
Give them the wisdom to realize
That every life has equal value.
Give them the strength to resist the idea
That some lives can be sacrificed to save others
Or that killing the unborn is a part of health care.

Give your people the courage to speak up
And to hold public officials accountable for their actions.

Save us, Lord Jesus, from a culture of death,
And let every reform in our public policy
Be based on the reform of our hearts and minds
In the light of your Gospel,
For you are Lord forever and ever. Amen.

May 13, 2009 Post.

Easter.

Good Friday.

Our Lady of all Nations.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Father, send now your Spirit over the Earth.

Let the Holy Spirit live in the heart of all nations, that they may be preserved from degeneration, disaster and war.

May the Lady of all nations, the Blessed Virgin Mary, be our Advocate.

Amen.

Daily Mass Readings.

Weeks ago, when I was giving thought as to how I would observe Lent this year, I decided that I would make every effort to attend Mass every day. In our Parish, there are daily Masses at noon on week days....with the exception of Thursday, when there is no Mass but, a Communion service at 7:00 AM.
It would have been very difficult getting my three year old up and ready for the Thursday Communion service but, there didn't seem to be any problem with me attending the noon Masses.

That plan has hit a snag. I had an accident recently in my wife's car....it's mine now; she bought another. I took the car to the body repair shop last week and at that time it seemed that the car would be repaired by Ash Wednesday. As it turns out, there is damage to the frame and the cost to repair the frame may be more than the value of the car.

As I write this, I have no idea what the insurance company will do, but it looks like no matter what the company decides, I will be without transportation for awhile longer. There's no way I can attend the week day Masses without a vehicle.

In place of daily Mass, I've posted a link to the daily Mass readings on the usccb website.

The readings can also serve as lectio divina.

Ash Wednesday 2009.

Normally, my work schedule interferes with a proper observance of Ash Wednesday. I've always had to make certain changes in order to attend Mass with my family.

In years past, I've taken off early. When I was working 12 hour shifts, my regular time for getting off work was 7:00 PM; Evening Masses usually started at 5:00 and 7:30.

When we changed to eight hour shifts, I landed the 2nd shift (3:00 PM to 11:00PM) and new attendance policies at work kept me from leaving early or coming in late too often. The solution was taking a "vacation day". I had the entire day off, with pay and no penalty. Taking the day off also made fasting and abstinence less of a burden.

This year, the situation is different. I didn't have to take a day off, as we are "laid off" for the week. I'll be getting an unemployment check for this week.

So, there's no excuse not to get a complete Rosary today.....with the entire 20 Mysteries; no excuse not to do a proper Catholic fast.

Salamat Maria. La Naval de Manila 2007

Meditation and Coincidences.

I first began practicing meditation on May 25, 1975.

It's not that I wrote down the date in a diary or marked it on a calendar. As it turned out, there was a lunar eclipse that evening and it's easy enough to get the dates of eclipses on NASA's website.

Another "coincidence" that helps keep that date in my consciousness is that that day happened to be Vesak as well. Vesak is considered by Buddhists as the date of the birth, enlightenment and the passing away of Gautama Buddha.

Discovering this Vesak coincidence after the fact is proof enough, for me at least, that I'm heading in the right direction with my meditation practice.

I've since then returned to my boyhood faith of Catholicism. My meditation has been ever so slightly modified into what Catholic monks call Centering Prayer. A few years ago I discovered yet another "coincidence" regarding my meditation. Playing around with the letters in my full legal name (as given to me by my father) I found an interesting anagram...... "Romes Buddhist master".

The word Rome, of course, can refer to the city in Georgia where I live......or the home of the Roman Catholic Church.