"My Prayer for You"

"I pray that,

according to the riches of his glory,

he may grant that you may be

strengthened in your inner being

with power

through his Spirit..."

Ephesians 3:16

   

For Ed, Terri and Michelle,

With much love!

"Cling to God through Prayer"

I don't think there is anyone who needs God's help

and grace as much as I do. Sometimes I feel so

helpless and weak. I think that is why God uses me.

Because I cannot depend on my own strength, 

I rely on him 24 hours a day. If the day had even more

hours, then I would need his help and 

grace during those hours as well. 

All of us must cling to God through prayer.

My secret is very simple: I pray. 

Through prayer I become one in love with Christ.

 I realize that praying to him is loving him.

In reality, there is only one true prayer, 

only one substantial prayer: Christ himself.   

There is only one voice that rises above the face

of the earth: the voice of Christ.

Perfect prayer does not consist in many words,

but in the fervor of the desire which raises the heart to Jesus.

Love to pray. Feel the need to pray often during the day.

Prayer changes the heart until it is capable of 

containing God's gift of himself.

Ask and seek and your heart will grow big

enough to receive him and keep him as your own.

Mother Teresa of Calcutta

"Dinner Prayers"

   Bless us O Lord,

and these thy gifts,

which we are about to receive

from thy bounty

through Christ our Lord,

Amen

We give you thanks 

for all thy benefits through
Almighty God

who lives and reigns forever.

May the souls of the

faithfully departed

through the mercy of God

rest in peace.

Amen

One of my favorite memories of growing up in a
large family was dinner around the table.
Believe it or not, Mom and Dad got all seven of us
to the table every night! We each had our own chair;
mine was to Mom's right because I was
left-handed. It's still my favorite seat in their house!!
No doubt everyone else remembers
where they sat as well.
Each night Dad and Mom led us in our
dinner prayers, one before and always
one after each meal. No one could be excused
from the table until we prayed the
"Thanksgiving" prayer together.
I encourage you to incorporate the thanksgiving
prayer into your daily meals.
What a wonderful closing to special time together
around your table with your precious family!
****

P.S. jabo and I recently went to a dinner event at church and it was
so incredibly special to me when we all prayed the
same dinner prayer before we sat down to eat. Of course,
the prayer is not new but for some reason hearing
so many voices, young and old, all echoing this same prayer together...
well, it was just so beautiful, I could feel it in my bones!

"Les disciples Pierre et Jean courant au sepulcre le matin de la Resurrection"

  

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still

dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and

saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb.

So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other

disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them,

"They have taken our Lord out of the tomb, and we

do not know where they have laid him."

Then Peter and the other disciple set out and 

went toward the tomb. The two were running together,

but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first.

He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there,

but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him,

and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there,

and the cloth that had been on Jesus' head, not lying

with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself.

Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, 

also went in, and he saw and believed; 

for as yet they did not understand the scripture, 

that he must rise from the dead.

John 20:1-9

****

I love the expressions on the faces of the disciples in this painting.
Their emotions have been so wonderfully captured on canvas and
their story is truly written all over their faces, anxious about the
news that they have just received concerning the Lord.
Their love for their friend and Savior, Jesus Christ, sends
them running to the tomb -- they saw and believed!




This is a picture of an oil on canvas by Eugene Burnand
(1850-1921)
that now is on display in France in the
Musee d'Orsay, Paris.
The translation of the title of the painting is:
"The disciples Peter and John running to the sepulcher
the morning of the Resurrection"
Thanks to my wonderful husband, Todd,
I had the unique opportunity to see this painting on my trip
to Paris in February of 1995.

**By viewing this image in an enlarged format you can better study the faces of the disciples.**

"Divine Mercy"

Jesus, I Trust in You.

"God's mercy is greater than our sins

and those of the entire world."

*From the diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska*   

Today is the Second Sunday of Easter,

also known as Divine Mercy Sunday.

**Enlarge this picture and take a closer look at the face of Jesus...
the image shows a very peaceful and merciful Savior!**