Little Rose slept in the pew ahead of us for the last half of mass. Then grandma flashed her with a picture after mass, and she jumped and woke up! There is much activity mixed in with all the beauty of the Word and the Eucharist when we attend with the 4 generations together in one pew! Paul was up with the singing, and the rest of us shared our LIFE and LOVE at mass. Ruth had to leave with Rose, as grandpa failed at keeping her happy... she cried quite loudly! Then she returned with her sleeping and content. We heard from Maria after Church and discovered that Joseph and his men are safe - "they didn't have to go out to the battle after all!" Praise Him! She did tell me that her sister, Little Sister Hallel, had called her! I know that it means so much to know that two communities of religious were praying for Joseph and will continue to lift him up along with the many that are in a constant state of prayer for his safety and all those that are in harms way! As John and I got word of Joseph heading out to assist in a battle - I was on the phone speaking to Sr Mary Peter of the Poor Clares. WE did not talk long so that she could go and join the others in their community in prayer then and there. John and I launched into a rosary for Joseph and would stop between decades to call. In short order we had contacted all our family including Pat's mom and my parents, the Community of the Lamb in Kansas City, and Hallel and her Community of France! We also put the call to prayer out on FB! So much power in prayers united! The battle ended and they were not called to put their lives in danger! This picture I borrowed from Maria's blog says it all - she reminds me to call on our guardian angels along with Joseph's to watch over him and his men!
John and I were figuring out that they would be in the dark over there when Joe called about heading out into battle - that element to it would just add to the danger and the confusion. Thank you, Lord, for ending it and keeping Joseph safe! It is going to keep constant prayers to keep him safe! WE are up to it and on the job! Please join us in this endeaver of PRAYER without ceasing!
I was overjoyed to see that the Gospel for today was John 6! "I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world." Joseph and Maria rejoiced that Joe got to have confession and mass last week. It is not so easily come by there as you can well imagine! Knowing how much this means to the two of them... makes it that much more wonderful and such a gift of LIFE and LOVE in this scary place. Joseph takes his ministry of sharing the Truth in the very seriously! It allows us to be more accepting of this crazy thing that he is doing called protecting our LIFE and LIBERTY!
Jesus, we are fed at your table of LIFE and LOVE! May Joseph find the ability to receive you in Word and Sacrament this Holy Day in Alfghanistan. Thank you for the prayer army that is surrounding and protecting him and his men from harm. Guardian angels watch over them! We are blessed to have your spiritual army fighting the most important battle for us - the battle to win eternal LIFE for those that leave all behind - take up our Most Cherished Cross and follow after YOU! Jesus, we trust in you. Amen and Halleluia
Bless-bless, Barb
Pat's family at church in Holy Redeemer - the oldest 7 of the 10 kids - Pat is in his dad's arms! So special!
"The mystery of the Eucharist alone- that Christ left his Body and Blood for us to eat and drink - I could ponder forever and not fully plumb its depths. That its his actual (real) Body and Blood - not 'virtually real,' not a symbol. That he literally becomes part of us and we become part of him. That by leaving us food to eat and drink, he acknowledges and apeases our ravenous spiritual hunger... While I could never plumb the depths of the Eucharist - it's a gift, and it's holy. Someone sacrificed himself and left his very Body and Blood to us as a gift, an offering, the answer to our deepest prayer. Oh, please let there be something beyond me and my sadly, pathetically limited powers. Let there be something holy in the world, let there be something we haven't wrecked with our greed, our fear, our lust. Let the terrible, terrible suffering of me and every other human being on earth have meaning. The mass is a celebration and reenactment of the sacrifice: the consecration of the Host, and the bridging the gap between life and death, light and dark, heaven and earth, the material and the spiritual. The Eucharist is the eternal coming-into-being of the power that on the one hand has the ability to shake the foundations of the universe, and on the other, perpetually, gently assures us that we are known,seen, cherished; that God hungers for us, thirsts for us." Heather King is a convert to Catholicism
Susan/Hallel receiving Christ from the Vicar of Christ! Wow!
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