*JMJ* Merry Christmas Everyone! I've seen this on EWTN the other night. Maybe you have seen it too. I thought that this pic was a day late and a dollar short????? Really? Isn't this night just the beginning of our Christmas season???

Peace & Love, Anne

Check This Out!

*JMJ* I got this in an e-mail and I just had to share it with all of my bloggers. I think this is so cool! Check this out ... A couple purchased an old church in Kyloe, Northumberland. They invested a lot of money on the interior but the exterior Remained almost completely intact. They did more of a restoration Rather than a renovation which would have cost them 3 times less. Had they not purchased the old church who knows what would have happened to it As it was in very bad shape. The couple however adapted very well to the interior while leaving the outside with the minimum appearance of a house.

Aren't these photos amazing! I wanted to see more of them! As amazing as these photos are, I don't know if I could ever feel comfortable in a place like this. And not because there is a cemetery right out there window, lol. What about you? Could you see yourself living in a home like this? I do have to say though, that I do love the pew chairs at the dining room table. Have a blessed day! Love & Peace, Anne

P.S. I just want to thank the person who sent me this e-mail.

Palm Sunday

*JMJ* Hello fellow Catholics. As you well know, we just celebrated Palm Sunday in the Catholic church. I just love palm Sunday. For one I know that the Easter Celebration is just a week away. And that Lent is just about coming to a close. But! But not without our parish priests leading us through the sacred triduum first. Which is so sad to me. This is the time when us Catholics should feel the pressure of Christ's cross weighing on Him because of our sinfulness. And how much our good Lord had to suffer because of our sins that we commit even to this very day and time in the year of 2010. The triduum a very difficult time to go through in the Catholic Church. Just the somberness of the triduum stifles my breath. Significant but simple gestures add to this difficult time. When there is no music playing. When no one speaks. The alters are bare. When all the priests and the deacons lay prostrate before the alter. You witness all these priests prostrate, who give their whole lives to follow Christ and His Church. It makes me feel so humbled. We are nothing without Christ. Christ is our everything. We all take part in nailing Christ to the cross because of our sins. But yet I have deep sorrow when we walk through the triduum and have to feel the suffering that our Lord had to endure for all of us. I feel much suffering and I'm not the one who was crucified. How can you not venerate that cross on Good Friday and say, "I'm sorry Lord. Have mercy on me. Thank you for dying on the cross for me so that I to may be with you in heaven."

As sad and difficult as this time is, we all can look forward to the triumph of our Lord's Victory when we are all able to shout out Alle......Oh! Not yet! We must wait for Easter before we can finally feel the joy of our risen Lord's victory.

I just get chills when I think of the Easter scriptures. When the angel sits upon the moved rock and says....."Christ is not here. He is risen." Or when the risen Lord asks Mary Magdalen why she is crying. She says that she is crying because they took her Lord somewhere and she doesn't know where. And then all Jesus has to say is "Mary." Then Mary's face looked up on the risen Lord's face. She knew then who it was. Those are just a few of the favorite scriptures that make me hold my breath and pull at my heart strings. But I'm getting to far ahead of myself. I hope that you all will join in your parish for the triduum. It's such an important prelude to our Easter season.

Finally getting to the reason why I started this post. Are you one of those people in church who look upon the others who make those beautiful crosses out of those palms and wished you were able to do that? Well, in my parish bulletin this year, they had instructions. I still was having a hard time. So I looked up the directions on the Internet and found the same directions but with pictures which made it a whole lot easier to understand. So here are my palm crosses.

I think they turned out pretty good for my first time. And here is the link that will show you how to make them. http://www.fisheaters.com/customslent11.html

I'm wishing all of you a continued spiritual Lenten season as we all get ready to walk through the triduum together, you and I. So continue to stay on course as we all will be able to finally celebrate the Easter season together. Alle.....(no,no,no. Not yet.)

But I do have to admit that I am very much looking forward to that cup of coffee on Easter morning which I gave up for Lent. Mm. I can't wait!

Peace & Love, Anne

A Letter From Satan

A LETTER TO YOU FROM SATAN I saw you yesterday as you began your daily chores. You awoke without kneeling to pray. As a matter of fact, you Didn’t even bless your meals, or Pray before going to bed last night. You are so Unthankful, I like that about you. I cannot tell you how glad I am That you have not changed your Way of living, you are mine. Remember, you and I have been Going steady for years. And I still Don’t love you yet. He kicked me out of heaven, And I'm going to use you as long as Possible to pay him back. You see, Fool, GOD LOVES YOU and HE has great plans in store for you. But you have yielded your life to me, And I'm going to make your life a Living hell. That way, we'll be together twice. This will really hurt God. Thanks to you, I'm really Showing Him who's boss in your life with All of the good times we've had. We have been cursing people out, Stealing, lying, being hypocritical, fornicating, overeating, Telling dirty jokes, gossiping, being judgmental, Back stabbing people, disrespecting adults, And those in leadership positions, No respect for the Church, bad attitudes. SURELY you don't want to give All this up. Come on, let's burn together forever. I've got some hot plans for us. This is just a letter of appreciation from me To you. I'd like to say "THANKS" for letting me use You for most of your foolish life. You are so gullible, I laugh at you. When you are tempted to sin, You give in HA, you make me sick. Sin is beginning to take it's toll on your life. You look 20 years older, and now, I need new blood. So go ahead and teach some children how to sin. All you have to do is smoke, Get drunk or drink while underage, cheat, gamble, Gossip, fornicate, and live being as selfish as possible. Do all of this in the presence of children and They will do it too. Kids are like that. Well, I have to let you Go for now. I'll be back in a couple of Seconds to tempt you again. If you were smart, You would run somewhere, Confess you sins, Live for God with what little bit of life that You have left. It's not my nature to warn anyone, But to be your age and still sinning, It’s becoming a bit ridiculous. Don't get me wrong, I still hate you. P.S. If you really love me, you won't share this letter with anyone. Written by Unknown

It's Coming....

*JMJ* Yep, it's true. Lent is coming! Like I said in last years post, Lent is my favorite time in the church. To me it's a time when you want to shout out...(pointing) I'm Catholic! I'm...I'm...I'm a Catholic!!!! Me...I'm Catholic (Lol). Oh I'm fasting because...I'm a Catholic! Oh I can't eat meat on Friday because...I'm Catholic! Be proud to have those ashes on your forehead because...I'm a Catholic! And the list goes on and on. I think I get this from the fact that I didn't grow up in the Catholic faith until almost 11 years now. So I'm excited to see that I am still excited about my Catholic faith. Does it get boring? Heck no! With each year, I become a better Catholic. And let me tell you, it's going to take me a lot of Lenten seasons, probably all of my life, to get myself to were God wants me to be! I know I always say this, but when I first became Catholic, I use to pray and asked the Lord why he chose me to become a Catholic. I use to say, "Jesus, I'm such a terrible Catholic (Lol)." I really was. I use to tell the Lord that he made a big mistake calling me to the church. The Lord had no problem pointing out all of my faults. And trust me, there were and still is quite a bit. With more Lenten seasons, I trust that the Lord will iron out all of my wrinkles. And I'm not kidding. It will probably take my whole life time for that! But I've come to learn that our faith is a journey. It will take my whole life to walk through my journey of faith.

Over the past years, I have really liked the Stations of the Cross prayer. So this year, I went out hunting around at different Catholic stores to find the Stations of the Cross prayer beads. I was so happy to finally have one for my own. I've always wanted these prayer beads. They have the 15 pictures for each station. And I real big crucifix. The crucifix has the trinity on it. Father, Son & Holy Spirit. I've never seen a crucifix like that, I like it.

So I'm going to really enjoy using these for the Stations of the Cross prayer this Lenten season. So all I have to do is dust off the ole' bible and grab my rosary beads out of the bottom of that drawer and I'm good to go for this Lenten season. Oh yeah I gotta get me one of those little black books to.

I hope that you all are preparing for Lent. Because it's coming!!

God bless all of my readers. I hope that you all have a very spiritual Lenten season that brings you closer to God. Don't forget that Wednesday is Ash Wednesday. It's not a day of Holy Obligation. But please go to mass. It's a wonderful way to kick off the Lenten season.

Peace & Love, Anne

P.S. I'm giving up coffee for Lent!

A Blessing Prayer

*JMJ*

A Blessing Prayer

God bless you in the morning

with His Presence shining bright,

and make the whole day happy

with His radiant love and light...

God bless you in the evening

when daytime hours depart,

and-like a benediction

leave His Peace upon your heart.

I found this little prayer in my parish bulletin. I thought I'd share it with you today. Like the gospel reads this morning, we're each very important to Christ. And Christ has given each individual a personalized gift, and that we all take part in bringing up the kingdom of God. I pray that I am using the gifts that the Lord has given to me to bring up the kingdom of God. I hope you all feel the peace of Christ this Lord's day. God bless each and everyone of you!

Love, Anne

The Names of God

*JMJ* I read this from a prayer card that was given to me. I thought I'd share it with you all.

~The Names of God~

"I AM YOUR PROVIDER"

Gen 22:14

"I AM YOUR HEALER"

Ex 15:26

"I AM YOUR VICTORY"

Ex 17:15

"I AM YOUR PEACE"

Judges 6:24

"I AM YOUR SHEPHERD"

Ps 23:1

"I AM YOUR RIGHTEOUSNESS"

Jer 23:6

"I AM YOUR SALVATION"

"Jesus"

"I AM WITH YOU"

Ez 48:35

On the flip side of this prayer card reads....

"My contentment is

not in wealth,

but in seeing You

and knowing

all is well between us.

And when I awake

in heaven

I will be fully satisfied,

for I will see You

face to face."

I just love this little prayer card. But I can't remember who gave it to me. I do hope it comes to me.

On another note, I have been suffering from tension headaches for the past five months now. Please pray for my healing of these headaches. It has been rather awful because it has dragged on for some time now. Thank you.

Happy 2010!