Tomorrow I turn 1!!!

A year ago we were all praying and excited for Ruth to have her baby.  Towards the end of her pregnancy there is some anxiety as we watch her grow bigger knowing that her uterus tore one time and that prayers are needed to get her and the baby safely through the pregnancy!  One part that gives us comfort is that she will never go into labor again in her lifetime, and that is what truly taxes her and was when she tore having Mary 7 years ago.  Her last two children she calls her miracle babies as she was told no more children at that time.  Now there is another on the way, so the prayers have started in earnest as soon as we know that.  So we celebrate our sweet little Rose Ida's day of birth and with great anticipation look for her to be a big sister in less than 6 months!  Jesus, we thank and praise you for LIFE!  There is nothing more precious, and is the source of LOVE that grows and grows bigger with each new member of our family.  Jesus, we Trust in YOU.  Bless-bless, Barb

"I love my tongue, and my mommy, daddy, brothers and sister, and now I will be a big sister soon.  LIFE is Good - thanks mom and dad for giving me LIFE!"  Rose Ida

A portrait of LIFE..."my peace I give to you." Jesus today in the Gospel - John14

Pat was sharing a story he read in a local area paper this morning... as he was sharing it I said..."I know this person.  She came by at the county fair last year while I was working in the Minnesota Citizens Concerned for LIFE booth, and shared her story with me."  The article he read seems to have vanished into thin air, but I remember it well - I was so touched by it!  Last night reading in the National Catholic Register about an abortion survivor and how she is attempting to make a difference for all those damaged by this horror!  So many reminders of LIFE and how we must cherish and fight for it with all that we have to give!  How can the meaning of LIFE be thought so little of that babies are murdered by the millions in our country and all over the world?  The number for the US is 55 million lives that have been extinguished, and LIGHTS that were not allowed to shine hence it is true that we are a world more and more dark and filled with death.  This survivor shares that the death of a LIFE from abortion affects so many more than just the mother and her child killed - "The truth is that it affects men; it affects all of us.  If affects grandparents, siblings, our families and, ultimately, our entire nation."  Melissa Ohden a 31 week gestation saline abortion survivor!  She has found 100 or so other survivors mostly of those late term abortions!  They struggle with forgiveness and anger when the people that were to protect and love them tried to kill them!  Melissa in joining the Catholic Church after seeing how we do not waver for the LIFE issues!  After having a miscarriage herself - she found solid help through some things that she had been given by Catholic friends..."As I was driving back from somewhere and in the middle of losing my child...I said to the Lord - You are going to have to go bigger...So I went home and started cleaning a drawer, when I found two miraculous medals and the Diary of St Faustina - just things that people had given me over the years.  At a time when I am experiencing suffering on a whole new level by losing my child , I discover those Miraculous Medals.  That was a real gift to me that led me to make the decision to enter The Church."

Sweet Simon with his parents on his First Communion day on Sunday - armed with the Banquet of LIFE - Jesus' Body and Blood- Simon will have so much to help him through all the ups and downs of LIFE.  When we faced the cancer/healing/seminary journey with John that continues to this day - we have our 6 month check up once again in June... we had so much to hold onto and to gain strength and healing from through our amazing Church!  I had many self-help books and this and that offered to us, but we just wanted to do it through our faith/prayer army and The Church!  I know just what Melissa is saying here... She needed more at this point of crisis in her life and she found it in The Church!  There is so much there!  There are the army of angels and Saints to help us on our way and to intercede for us!  Some asked us why we used a relic of Blessed John Paul II and Venerable Solanus Casey when we prayed over John for healing - Why not just go to Jesus yourself?  Both of these saints are have healed in their lifetimes and now at the feet of Jesus why not ask them to intercede for us from heaven?  I myself don't have that gift or faith necessary to heal, do you?  How powerful also to be able to go to Lourdes twice in the course of John's first year and to have John bath in the healing waters/miraculous spring of Lourdes!  To see all the sick - so hopeful and filled with HOPE and FAITH there ... and there are many healings that have happened in Lourdes - I just bought a book entitled - The Wonders of Lourdes - 150 stories of the power of prayer to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Our Lady's Apparitions by Magnificat... I am sure that you will hearing me share long and loud about this book as I start to read it!  Lourdes is all part of John's healing - we have so many amazing pieces to the whole picture of miraculous healing that we gained through our Church and the half-hearted prayer that John said asking for Faith!  WE have all been changed by this journey and none more than John Patrick Augustine Verly!  We marvel at it all!

Another miraculous apparition of Our Lady in Mexico - Our Lady of Guadalupe!  Her black ribbon around her waist means that she is pregnant with Christ - hence she is the patronness of the America's and there to intercede for us in LIFE issues!  Our Lady of Guadalupe hear us in our plea to end the taking of innocent LIFE/LIGHT that can change the world and bring it from death into life - darkness into LIGHT! 

Jesus, with your glorious Queen of Heaven and Earth at your side... we beseech you to use us to share the Truth of LIFE, LOVE and LIGHT with all those we meet - most especially with those in our domestic Church/family!  May the Truth spread far and wide that LIFE is to be cherished from conception to natural death!  We ask that you protect the little one that Ruth is carrying.  May they both come through this safely.  Jesus, we trust in YOU.  Amen and Halleluia

Bless-bless, Barb

"God is not the God of disorder but of peace."  I Cor 14:33

A week ago it was a blizzard... now summer?

Pat and I were comparing the reality that a week ago tonight it was storming so bad that he had to clean out the driveway at midnight for me to get home after work, and there were challanging drifts as I held my breath and drove down our road.  This was the 3rd day of 70+ degrees. and once again we are wondering where spring went because it is like it jumps from winter to summer. 

Little Rose stopped in for some birthday pictures with the crocuses that appear as soon as the snow leaves, and seem to announce that we can find the purple blossoms to show us that there is beauty to be found in growing things and not just in stark white snowdrifts!  Rose with her brown eyed smile is a beautiful Rose/blossom to add to the delight on this wonderful warm day!

The bulls are in the pasture officially today for the first time eating the grass that was covered with snow just days ago.  Talk about fresh!  So wonderful to be out of the muddy yards and in the wide open spaces!  That must taste mighty good after eating the dry hay all winter long.  And the fresh snowmelt water from the creek to wash it down - good and cold, I am sure!

My friend the bottle calf sure would like to get some freedom in the pasture soon!  Not too much longer little friend.  I don't think that either of us will be sad on that day.  Except...

Maybe Mary and Rose - Mary because she just likes to help give them the bottles when she can come over here.

And Rose, because she really likes bottles, and that is the biggest one she has ever had the JOY of holding and yes - putting that nipple in her mouth.  "Who me?"

A crowd gathered in the shed as Mary did her job.  Soon they will be out on pasture with the other cows and calves and get some of that fresh grass too!  Spring/Summer is here!  Jesus, we trust in YOU.  Bless-bless, Barb

St Catherine - John returns to the stage,and finds JOY - Simon finds Jesus!

So much JOY this morning as the tears flow while I talk to John about the JOY he discovered in returning to the stage!  Who would have thought that seminary would give him that gift and opportunity?  I was amazed when he told me that he was trying out for a part in the play at seminary, and I guess that it was years since anyone had done one!  It just seems that it was there for John... to show him that the new John still has the God-given Gift of performing on stage for the great JOY and edification of others.  What he found most wonderful about this play, was that it really was a growing experience in faith.  I told him that Pat and I already prayed to Jacques Fesch in Heaven this morning for all those that don't know Jesus.  Jacques certainly understands their plight, and certainly is a good one to pray to for intercession in finding the Truth, and being set free from the attraction to all that glitters in this world!  And there is a lot of that fool's gold out there!  Jacques thought wrongly that getting/stealing the money for a boat, and sailing away from his responsibilites would find him the happiness in LIFE that he sought.  In a way it did, because when he mistakingly kills a policeman and ends up on death row - he finds the JOY of Jesus through some of his amazing Saints - St Therese and St Francis to name two of the foremost!  It is sad that such a wonderful uplifting play will only be seen for one weekend, but there is a copy on video that has been preserved!  It is a wonderfully written play, and should be published for more to see and experience this life changed...that now can intercede for others that struggle with the lies of the world!  On the back of the prayer card we picked up after the play with the picture of 27 year old Jacques Fesch... he was guillotened to death at 27...

"Father of all mercy and source of reconcilliation, whose love is boundless and whose justice even accounts for our frailty, grant we pray, for your servant Jacques Fesch be raised to the altars, and through his intercession and example he may teach transgressors your ways and sinners may return to you.  Trough Christ our Lord. 

Jacques Fesch, pray for us."

Simon meeting Jesus in His Body and Blood for the first time!!!   Our Lady shows us how to say "Yes"- "Amen" when Jesus is held out to us.  And she also shows us that with that Amen... Jesus comes into us, and grows to maturity, and we bear HIM to the world around us!  Such a huge step in the faithlife of Simon.  John could not be here to share in this day for Simon, as he had his last performance of his play that afternoon.  But after sharing the glorious mass at the seminary with John and my brother, Dan and sister-in-law, Angela on Saturday morning - so amazing to see the devotion and LOVE for our Lord in all these young men, answering the call of our Lord to truly be his hands and feet for our Church... as they carry forth the Ministry of Jesus - LIFE, LOVE, and LIGHT!  The Priest brings us LIFE... as they turn the Bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Jesus!  Less men are listening to HIS call to the priesthood - Satans attempt of robbing this world of everlasting LIFE!  We need to pray about this faithfully!  It is wonderful to see that more amazing young men are open and listening to HIM, and his call to them!  Jesus, may we support our seminarians and priests with faithful and constant prayers!

This year has been a hard/wonderful one for John in seminary.  We see that there are so many prayers that go into each one of these young men, as they spend time sharing prayer, the mass, and studies.  Thanks to all those that are supporing John as he goes forward!  Today is the feastday that will be hugely celebrated in Hallel's community - St Catherine of Siena - She is one of their main saints of the Community, and did so much in only 33 years of LIFE!  She was a burning torrential FIRE of LOVE that raged and changed the world in her short life!  "Here is a wise virgin, from among the number of prudent, who went forth with lighted lamp to meet Christ.  Halleluia."  The entrance antiphon to mass today!  We think of our wise humble virgin - Hallel - this day feastday in which they will immerse themselves in the LIFE/LOVE/LIGHT of St Catherine!  One thing about our wonderful Church - they sure know how to celebrate and have wondrous feastdays! 

"O God, who set St Catherine of Siena on fire with divine love in her contemplation of the Lord's Passion and her service of your Church, grant through her intercession that your people,participating in the mystery of Christ may ever exult in the revelation of his glory..."  Jesus, so much fills this day with your presence and Love for us!  May we carry this JOY ever in our hearts, minds, and souls!  Jesus, with your Bride, The Church, in all the wisdom and knowledge of YOU through Word and Sacrament... we are filled to overflowing, and lit on Fire as a candle in the darkness!  May we carry forth your LIGHT/LOVE/LIFE into our world/domestic Church/family!  We want to be consumed by YOU, and so that only YOU may be seen, and we don't get in the way!  Jesus, we are Yours alone, and may we die to self with each day with You.  Jesus, we trust in YOU.  Amen and Halleuia

Bless-bless, Barb

St Catherine of Siena - How God makes His Dwelling with Us - speaking to the Gospel for today John 14

"Abandon yourself for him, learning from this Jesus who in order to give you the life of grace gave up his bodily life.  And as a sign of his generosity he opened up his whole self by creating a bath within his open side after he died, to show us his love.   Do you want to live in security?  Then hide yourself within this side and see that you are never found outside this opened heart - though once you enter, you will discover such JOY and sweetness that you will never want to leave...  Oh indescribable, immeasurable charity!  What drove you to give us this true good?  Only the boundless love with which you made us, your creatures, not because you had any obligation - for it is we who are obligated to you, not you to us.

Now how can we keep from loving our gentle Savior, when we see how much we are loved by him?  It is the character and way of Love always to return love for love, and the lover is transformed into beloved.  So it is with the soul, Christ's bride, who sees herself loved by him; let her allow that she wants to make a return to him by returning his love.  I mean, let her because of her love be willing to endure pain and dishonor for him, and she will thus be transformed and become one with him through love and desire." 

I am imagining the depth of feeling that Hallel and those that are his Brides experience when they share in the words of St Catherine!  Yet, we all should go to this depth with our LOVE for Christ in our own LIVES!  Praise HIM!  Halleluia!

Little Rose two days from her first birthday is a Gift from above!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaCR24-tkWI  Danielle Rose - If I touch him

We can touch Him too in the Eucharist, Reconcilliation, all the Sacraments - His Word!!!  Jesus, You are there for us in so many places in our lives!  May we embrace our Most Cherished Cross and follow after YOU!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jj2pU1fTPM  Francesca Battestelli - Lead me to the Cross

Sisters - a gift!!!

Lanoue Landmark day

Our oldest grandson, Simon Lanoue, took the very important and big step of taking his first Communion/Eucharist today!  As one mom said - it will be even more special next week without all the "busyness" and distractions.  Simon will walk forward with all of the adults and those his age and older and hold out his hands to receive Jesus!  It will be much more personal and calm next week and forward from here.  My prayer for him is that it will remain something and someone that he hungers and thirsts for each week, and that his walk with our Lord will take a new depth and Truth in his life! 

Mom getting him to smile more with a loving tug on his ear seems to work.  Sweet Simon leads the way in our family in a very poised and gentle way!

First time receiving Jesus!  Such a moment in time!

Radiant - Light of Christ touching the world around him!

Rosie shared the occassion with her first birthday party!

"My own cupcake!  Today must be a special day!!!"

Congratulations Simon and Rose too!  I have a feeling that on May 1st it will say Happy Birthday Rose Ida!

Rose reminds me of my girls, but also of me...

This picture came to mind when I took the one of Rose today out by the fence... there is quite a resemblance.

Tired, hot and handsome Simon still had a sweet smile for Our Lady - She teaches us how when we say "Yes" to Jesus that He comes and dwells within us and we bear HIM to the world.  Now you take her example to heart, mind and soul dear Simon.   Jesus, hold Simon close to your heart burning with LOVE for him.  Jesus, we trust in YOU.  Bless-bless, Barb

Now you are called to the Table of the Lord, Simon!

"Love one another." Jesus

You, LORD, LOVE us as unworthy as we are unconditionally...

So we LOVE in return as all those amazing examples are in Heaven to assist us - Mary and St Therese are some of the Best!  The angels and Saints will surround Simon this day as he goes forth to receive Jesus in His Body and Blood for the first time! 

Surrouded by his siblings - one in the womb - and cousins and Little Sister Hallel in Prayer with her Community of the Lamb.  We eat the Lamb sacrificed for us!  May we follow HIM taking up our Cross and following HIM.  Jesus, we trust in YOU.  Bless-bless, Barb

John on the stage - tomorrow Simon's Day - 1st Communion!

The new John did amazing last night on stage in a wonderful play at the Seminary - Yes, he had hair for the part of the alcoholic father of the main character!  Quite crazy looking after being bald for the last 3 years.  Thinking of him tonight as they just had their second performance.  If you can make it tomorrow - it is a wonderful joyful and greatly edifying play!  John was reaffirmed that there is still talent to be shared on stage by the new John!  Thank you, Lord! 

Back to normal for mass this morning with his greatly loved aunt and uncle - my brother, Dan, and his wife Angela!  The seminary mass was so special with the Latin and gorgeous Gregorian chanting!  So blessed to share it with all the wonderful men and their beautiful voices!  Such a blessing to be able to share Feast of the Lord together!  Tomorrow grandson, Simon, will come to the table for the first time!  We are gathering to celebrate with great JOY on this very special Day!  Simon, may Jesus always be the most important part of your LIFE! 

To add to the celebrating tomorrow - we will also be having a 1st Birthday Party for little Rose Ida just a few days early!  She is so sweet!  Jesus, hold little Rose and big brother, Simon, close to your heart burning with LOVE for them.  Jesus, we trust in YOU.  Bless-bless, Barb

Simon and Rose along with the rest of the cousins with Hallel a couple weeks ago.  I know that Hallel is praying for her special Simon tomorrow! 

Mom, woman of faith

Welcome back to Mom, Woman of Faith, a Saturday Series where moms share about all that our vocation is.  Thank you for being here, and please consider contributing in the future!  Just email Nancy (info found on contacts page).  Enjoy.


This week's question: What was one of your most joyful moments as a wife?

Nancy
Small Things

What is my most joyful moment as a wife?  Well, that is a difficult question, not because I am unhappy, but because I am very very happy!  I am married to a wonderful, faithful man.  He is a man that I never would have picked out for myself, but thankfully the Lord knew better than me.

When I think of the pure joyful moments in our marriage one does sort-of stick out, and that is the birth of our first child.  We had thought that since he was our first, I would go over my due date, but in the end the baby came early and very quickly.  I taught that day, and had a baby in arms the next morning. Because of this, and due to the fact that we don't have any family living near by, it was just me and my husband through the entire labor, and even most of the first day of my son's life.  I am so grateful that we had this time together. 

After I delivered the nurse took the baby over to the warming table to assess him.  I looked over and there was my husband, weeping with joy over his son.  Wow, I will never get over that moment.  Never before had a felt so close to another person.  We had just had a baby--and crazy as it might sound, this baby was going to be totally dependent on us.  I just looked on as my husband wept.  I will never forget that moment, and a praise God for the joy that he has brought into my wife since that day, almost three years ago, when I became a wife.

Barb
Family Soul Story

My most joyful moment as a wife was my wedding day…Pat and I ministered the sacrament of marriage/matrimony to each other in our lifelong vows in the gloriously beautiful Basilica of St Mary in Minneapolis, MN.  I was married in 1978, and I was older than most women at the age of 26, soon to be 27.  I had considered a call to become a sister, and due to circumstances at the time, when the Sr. directing me told me that she was leaving religious life and getting married – the “call” evaporated for me – I see now that I was called to marriage, and this was the answer to my prayers for direction.  My entire family had converted to the Catholic faith in 1971, and that is really saying something because my father was a Protestant minister and I was the oldest of 11 children.  So 13 of us converted with our first communion together on Christmas Eve mass!  If you would like to read about this go here.    

On our first date my husband shared that he had shocked his sisters by saying that he would only marry a Catholic, and after seeing how he is such a determined man – I now see that his prayers for me could have been instrumental in our entire family converting to The Church!  I fell madly in LOVE with the Catholic Church, and then madly in LOVE with Patrick Verly!  After those years of cherishing the daily Eucharist; being confirmed in a huge adult confirmation at the Cathedral in St Paul along with my parents, some siblings, and what appeared to be hundreds; looking at a call to religious orders; finding such JOY and freedom in frequent reconciliation, and on August 3^rd, 1978 we set out to live each day that sacrament of marriage, as we vowed to love, honor, and cherish until death do us part… helped along with the sanctifying grace and all the Church gives us to make that possible!  We are approaching 35 years of carrying forth each day that most JOYFUL moment of our joining as man and wife – the Sacrament of Matrimony!  By embracing our Most Cherished Cross – each other – we find LIFE, LOVE and bring LIGHT into the world.  

And now it's your turn!  Share in the joy and tell us about your marriage.  Comment below, or add your thoughts to the link on Facebook.

I find myself at Nancy's home this morning!  Pat and I had the great experience of attending John's great play last evening at the seminary.  It is called Saved by the Guillotine, and is about the short life of Jacques Fesch, a young man on death row for murder in France in 1950's, who had a conversion in prison before his death. It is very well done, and so good to see.  If you have an opportunity to see it here in St Paul over the next two days - do it!  You can call John about info as I am away from my computer and the link to get free tickets - 507-530-8810.  Bless-bless, Barb

Thank you, Lord, for the warm sun... we are all very grateful.  81A wanted to say a little prayer with me, and I think warm drying weather so that the grass in the pasture can grow and she and her calf can frolic in the warm sun was her prayer to YOU.  The answer has come already!  This is your amazing world and we are filled with wonder and awe at your feet with all the angels and saints!  

"I am the Way, the Truth and the LIFE."Jesus in John 14

Remembering all the prayers and the great need - PATRICK!

Today we are rejoicing without end, as we celebrate hearing that Patrick's EEG showed us what we all knew- He is a healthy boy in every way, and his brain has been healed!  We are so excited to thank and give the glory to the Lord... all those prayers by so many were answered - Jesus showed us that his words to us are something we can cling to from this day forward... He truly gives us LIFE without end!  Through our Catholic Church we are given all we need to find that healing through the sacraments of reconcilliation, annointing of the sick, given the food of LIFE - His Body and Blood, and that glorious Baptism, which Patrick and I shared in the midst of NICU at 1a - hours after his birth...I represented his FAMILY back generations bringing him into The Church for healing, and showing him the Way to go carrying his Most Cherished Cross and following Jesus!  All knowing that the Truth is what we depend on to see us through the storms of LIFE.  "Mom, this is the storm and Jesus is in control."  Hallel spoke these words to us at the beginning of our journey called cancer/healing/seminary with our 20 year old son, John Patrick!  Yes, John and Patrick share the name of their grandpa/dad, and they both know that is a powerful handle to be blessed with!  Little 6 1/2 month old Patrick even has the large hands and feet that his grandpa has.  Stamped with those things shared with his grandpa makes us all smile with great delight.

Looking at the pictures of that month I spent there with Maria and her family... the beauty of faithful prayer and worship prevail!  After Jesus tells us that He is the Way, the Truth, and the LIFE today... his next words are this - "No one comes to the Father except through me."  This is so evident in the month of Patrick and the lives that Maria and her family live.  They truly know that they look to Jesus for all that they do, say, live, and believe.  Patrick did not make us question our faith, but brought us more to our knees!  We with total faith and hope placed Patrick in the Lord's loving and forgiving arms, and our prayers were answered!  How I loved to see my beloved Venerable Thomas a'Kempis (471) quoted today - he was huge for me in my early Catholic days - if you can get a chance read Imitation of Christ! 

"Follow me.  I am the Way, the Truth, and the LIFE.  Without the Way there is no going.   Without the Truth, there is no knowing.  Without the LIFE, there is no living.  I am the Way which you follow, the Truth which you must believe, the Life which you must hope.  I am the inviolable Way, the infallible Truth, the unending LIFE.  I am the Way that is straight, the supreme Truth, the LIFE that is true, the blessed, the uncreated LIFE.  If you abide in my Way you shall make you free, you shall attain LIFE everlasting."  (in·vi·o·la·ble (n-v-l-bl) adj.

1. Secure from violation or profanation: an inviolable reliquary deep beneath the altar.
2. Impregnable to assault or trespass; invincible: fortifications that made the frontier inviolable.)  I don't know about you, but "inviolable" was a new word for me and now I think it is a wonderful word, too!

The Cathedral of St Patrick's just blocks from the hospital in which Patrick defied all odds, and recovered, and went home from NICU... our haven of prayer and the graces of our Church - in our amazing True Church we find all that we need to be healed and brought to eternal LIFE!

El Paso is largely Hispanic area as there is a twin city Juarez that is Mexico, and the border between our countries goes through the center of town!   Of course, the Patronness of the Americas, Our Lady of Guadalupe, is there surrounded by LOVE in the form of beautiful flowers, and many heartfelt prayers to our Spiritual Mother.  She is pregnant with Christ - the black ribbon around her shows this to us!  How we can place Patrick in her loving arms as the symbol of LIFE, and the respect for all LIFE!  "A person's a person no matter how small."  Horton the Elephant had it right no!

Jesus, we look at the beauty and Truth of Patrick and his healing.  We hear so many times that he should have been a vegetable, and we are so filled with gratitude for his healing!  He will always know that it was prayer and Jesus with His Bride, The Church, at His side... that brought new LIFE and everlasting LIFE to our precious little Lamb, Patrick!  Your Truth is there for all to see with their own eyes... a beautiful happy healthy 6 1/2 month boy being raised in the Faith, and always looking to the Truth that will set us free!  The beauty of Your Church gives us the hope we need in the midst of the storm to know that you are in control!  Your first words to us today in the the Gospel in John 14..."Do not let your hearts be troubled.  You have faith in God; have faith also in me..."  At times this is so hard to do, when we are there and see the heartbeat stop, and know that our precious grandson and daughter, Maria, are in terrible danger... the words of Romans 8 which were read at mass just days after Patrick's birth caused Maria and I to be in tears - how we experienced this...

^{22 "}We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. ²³ Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. ²⁴ For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? ²⁵ But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

²⁶ In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. ²⁷ And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God." 
The version we heard expressed that feeling of wordless groaning as "inexpressible groanings" how true that was for me as I fell on my knees, with my hands raised to Jesus, in the agony of fear, and attempts at Faith, and giving it to Jesus... as they wheeled Maria on her hands and knees on the bed, and no heartbeat from Patrick!  I have never felt such impossibility to pray with words just inexpressible groanings!!!!   You know our hearts and minds, and souls, O Lord!  You know them better than we do ourselves!   Our prayers come to you more perfect and truthful if we just allow YOU inside of us, and fall on our knees before the altar in our inner temple.  You LOVE us with unconditional LOVE and forgiveness.  All we need do is lay our burdens at your feet, and ask for your forgiveness in the confessional.  We are so blessed by all the Truth that surrounds us in Your Church!  Jesus, we are Yours now and forever.  May we give without counting the Cost.  Jesus, come into our domestic Church/family and dwell there no matter what the storms of LIFE may hold for us.  Jesus, we trust in YOU.  Amen and Halleluia

Bless-bless, Barb
That Holy place within is no less wonderful than this....
"If you wish to enter into LIFE, keep my commandments.  If you will know the Truth, believe in me.  If you will be perfect, sell all.  If you will be my disciple, deny yourself.  If you will possess the blesed LIFE, despise this present LIFE.  If you will be exalted in heaven, humble yourself on earth.  If you wish to reign with me, carry the cross with me.  For only the servants of the Cross find the LIFE of blessedness and true LIGHT."  Venerable Thomas a'Kempis

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXaPwHPqJi4  Danielle Rose singing I am wonderfully made - Psalm 139!!  Watch it and marvel at the beauty of LIFE . 
And Jesus may the taking of innocent LIFE in the atrocity of abortion come to an end.  Save LIVES this day, O Lord!