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Starting New

Silly, isn't it? I did not realize God is operating a drive-through chain of Prayer Fulfillment shops that you can only get to if you were flying a plane. These reduce prayers to being a formula to get something from God. Sure, probably a lot of us believe that we do not have to pray 100 rounds of the Rosary to pray. Unless of course, we are doing penance. And then 100 rounds will probably be just the beginning! Just kidding.

Prayers are not conversations WITH God. If I start hearing someone talking back to me, and no, I do not have a trained parrot, it's time to start worrying about my mental health. Of course, there are rare instances when God really talks to extraordinary people. You see, in prayer we find the time to talk TO God.

My prayers are expressions of gratitude. They are prayers of thanks for being in such a place or state of mind in which I am.

My prayers are acknowledgements of God greatness manifest in all things.

My prayers are shouts of joy in times of blessings and and happiness.

My prayers are supplications and appeals for blessings from God. For things that I need and for those things that God knows I need.

My prayers are my begging for forgiveness, "for what  I have done and what I have failed to do."

My prayers cries for help to unburden my soul in times of deep disappointments and sorrow. My prayers are protestations to God for my lot and situation knowing that God will never give me a burden I cannot carry.

But this much I know.

It takes a second to really acknowledge God's greatness and say, "Thank You, Lord!"

It takes just a few second to look around and acknowledge the great creations and proclaim, "God, you are awesome!"

In times of celebrations it takes a few words to declare, "I'm so grateful for the blessings you have given me and my family, Lord!"

Through tears of shame it takes just a few words to say, "I'm sorry, Lord!"

In times of seemingly unbearable burden, it takes just three words to say, "Help me, Lord!" In times of doubt and temptation, it will take what it will take to say, "Protect me, Lord!"

My prayers are confirmations of my allegiance to the Giver of All Good Things.

Just listen to these words:

O my God,
I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee,
And I detest all my sins,
Because I dread the loss of heaven,
And the pains of hell;
But most of all because they offend Thee,
My God,
Who are all good and deserving of all my love.

I firmly resolve,
With the help of Thy grace,
To confess my sins, to do penance,
And to amend my life.

And when you find time for prayer, there He is.

The Sunday Readings

The Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, 2007

From the Book of Isaiah: Is 62:1-5

For Zion’s sake I will not be silent,
for Jerusalem’s sake I will not be quiet,
until her vindication shines forth like the dawn
and her victory like a burning torch.

Nations shall behold your vindication,
and all the kings your glory;
you shall be called by a new name
pronounced by the mouth of the LORD.

You shall be a glorious crown in the hand of the LORD,
a royal diadem held by your God.
No more shall people call you "Forsaken,"
or your land "Desolate,"
but you shall be called "My Delight,"
and your land "Espoused."

For the LORD delights in you
and makes your land his spouse.
As a young man marries a virgin,
your Builder shall marry you;
and as a bridegroom rejoices in his bride
so shall your God rejoice in you.

From the Book of Psalms: Ps 96:1-2, 2-3, 7-8, 9-10

R. Proclaim his marvelous deeds to all the nations.
Sing to the LORD a new song;
sing to the LORD, all you lands.
Sing to the LORD; bless his name.

R. Proclaim his marvelous deeds to all the nations.
Announce his salvation, day after day.
Tell his glory among the nations;
among all peoples, his wondrous deeds.

R. Proclaim his marvelous deeds to all the nations.
Give to the LORD, you families of nations,
give to the LORD glory and praise;
give to the LORD the glory due his name!

R. Proclaim his marvelous deeds to all the nations.
Worship the LORD in holy attire.
Tremble before him, all the earth;
Say among the nations: The LORD is king.
He governs the peoples with equity.

R. Proclaim his marvelous deeds to all the nations.

From the Letter to the Corinthians: 1 Cor 12:4-11

Brothers and sisters:
There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit;
there are different forms of service but the same Lord;
there are different workings but the same God
who produces all of them in everyone.

To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit
is given for some benefit.
To one is given through the Spirit the expression of wisdom;
to another, the expression of knowledge according to the
same Spirit;
to another, faith by the same Spirit;
to another, gifts of healing by the one Spirit;
to another, mighty deeds;
to another, prophecy;
to another, discernment of spirits;
to another, varieties of tongues;
to another, interpretation of tongues.

But one and the same Spirit produces all of these,
distributing them individually to each person as he wishes.

A charisma is a divinely conferred gift or power; a spiritual power or personal quality that gives an individual influence or authority over large numbers of people; or the special virtue of an office, function, position, etc., that confers or is thought to confer on the person holding it an unusual ability for leadership, worthiness of veneration, or the like.
 

From the Gospel of John: Jn 2:1-11

There was a wedding at Cana in Galilee,
And the mother of Jesus was there.
Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding.
When the wine ran short,
The mother of Jesus said to him,
       "They have no wine."

And Jesus said to her,
       "Woman, how does your concern affect me?
        My hour has not yet come."
His mother said to the servers,
      "Do whatever he tells you."
Now there were six stone water jars there for Jewish ceremonial washings,
each holding twenty to thirty gallons.

Jesus told the them,
     "Fill the jars with water."
So they filled them to the brim.
Then he told them,
     "Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter."

So they took it.
And when the headwaiter tasted the water that had become wine,
Without knowing where it came from
Although the servers who had drawn the water knew,
The headwaiter called the bridegroom and said to him,
     "Everyone serves good wine first,
      And then when people have drunk freely, an inferior one;
      but you have kept the good wine until now."

Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs at Cana in Galilee
And so revealed his glory,
And his disciples began to believe in him.

From the Readers

Brought o us through Daisy G.

 A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife open a package.

"What food might this contain?" The mouse wondered - he was devastated to discover it was a mousetrap.

Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed the warning.

"There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!"

The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said, "Mr. Mouse, I can tell this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to me. I cannot be bothered by it."

The mouse turned to the pig and told him, "There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!"

The pig sympathized, but said, "I am so very sorry, Mr. Mouse, but there is nothing I can do about it but pray. Be assured you are in my prayers."

The mouse turned to the cow and said "There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!"

The cow said, "Wow, Mr. Mouse. I'm sorry for you, but it's no skin off my nose."

So, the mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected, to face the farmer's mousetrap alone.

That very night a sound was heard throughout the house -- like the sound of a mousetrap catching its prey.

The farmer's wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness, she did not see it was a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught.

The snake bit the farmer's wife. The farmer rushed her to the hospital, and she returned home with a fever. Everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup's main ingredient.

But his wife's sickness continued, so friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig.

The farmer's wife did not get well; she died. So many people came for her funeral the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide enough meat for all of them.

The mouse looked upon it all from his crack in the wall with great sadness.

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