God has indeed blessed us by giving us His Mother, and on this special day as we thank our own Mothers and honor them for all they do for us and the love they show us, we also remember how much we have been blessed. It’s important that we also thank our Lady and pray that she may lead us to her Son.

Mary has always been with me, but with her messages from Medjugorje she has really helped put me back on the path to her Son. Her message from May 02 really hits home for me. To love and not to judge. I have always tried my best not to judge others, but as I read her message, I realized how bad I have failed. I may not judge so much, but I have fallen into the trap of categorizing peoples actions, and therefore judging. I’ll try harder to love and not to judge. Here’s Mary’s message, take your time, let yourself be inspired to love more.

“Dear children; Anew, I am calling you to love and not to judge. My Son, according to the will of the Heavenly Father, was among you to show you the way of salvation, to save you and not to judge you. If you desire to follow my Son, you will not judge but love like your Heavenly Father love you. And when it is the most difficult for you, when you are falling under the weight of the cross do not despair, do not judge, instead remember that you are loved and praise the Heavenly Father because of His love. My children, do not deviate from the way on which I am leading you. Do not recklessly walk into perdition. May prayer and fasting strengthen you so that you can live as the Heavenly Father would desire; that you may be my apostles of faith and love; that your life may bless those whom you meet; that you may be one with the Heavenly Father and my Son. My children, that is the only truth, the truth that leads to your conversion, and then to the conversion of all those whom you meet – those who have not come to know my Son – all those who do not know what it means to love. My children, my Son gave you a gift of the shepherds. Take good care of them. Pray for them. Thank you.”

What more could I say? Every time I read Mary’s message I get more out of it. Thank you and Happy Mother’s Day to our Mother Mary.  God bless you and have a wonderful day and a week full of God’s love, George

Prayers. A life of prayer is the best path to God, Sure, it’s easy for the Saints, but what about me. I’m just a simple man, live a regular life, about as far from being a Saint as is possible. A DAY FULL OF PRAYERS!!! Yeah, right, not me.

Prayers for most of us, especially when we are, or were young is prayers at night, prayers at mealtimes, (at least at home) and prayers at mass on Sundays. If we did it we felt pretty good about ourselves, if not, well… we’d do better next time, but we felt pretty good about the effort we put in and we knew God would appreciate it and we were set for heaven. As we got older, got married, a career, kids, bills, etc, etc. Life consumed us and prayers, kind of got away from us. Still said prayers when we remembered, tried to make it to mass on Sundays, if we had dinner together we usually said prayers, but we had too much to do, to many places to be and when we had time, we collapsed on the coach, watched a little tv, drank a beer and relaxed. Prayers were far from the central theme of our lives.

And than it happened, we got older. I thought it was just my siblings, friends, parents. I know they got older, but me, nah, time wasn’t the same for me, I still felt young. Well, I did wake up with all my joints and muscles announcing their presence, but that was just inconvenient, not really old.  Still not sure how my kids got old enough to be in college, graduated and starting their own lives, and I didn’t get older  But.. Ahhh finally, peace around the house. My wife was working full time, so on my days off, it was nice and quiet. I had time to get my stuff done, that I never had time before. Well, that is of course, after I took a nap. 12-13 hour days seemed to wear me out a little more than they used to, so I deserved some down time. I got in the habit of daily reading of the bible, prayed a little more.

Still never quite got all my projects done, but I did discover the joy of daily mass. I tried to go on occasion throughout the years, but now I try to make it at least once or twice a week. It’s usually a small group, that varies a little on different days, but it’s a group that you can tell loves Jesus and come to church to pray, to meditate, to worship and of course for mass and the Eucharist. Over time, you make friends, share a little of your joys, concerns and ideas. They inspire me and make me want to be better. I have found that’s it easier to pray, to start living my day as a prayer, to be thankful for all the little things and not let things bother me. I give them to Jesus and go on with my day.

Sorry, I got off track, my intention was to talk about prayer for others, those important people in our lives that maybe have strayed a little, as we did when we were younger, but found our way back. It’s a tough world out there, and becoming more and more secular. It’s about feeling good about yourself, being fair, open to whatever others want to do, not judging others. All good things, good intentions and important, but they need to be based on faith, on Jesus, not just because it feels right.

It’s so important that we and our children, our families, our friends pray. Not just at night or at meals, but throughout the day. I’ve heard the excuse more times than I can remember. I don’t know what to pray, how to pray, I don’t want to just be asking God for things, I feel funny, I don’t have time, etc, etc.  I heard it the other day, but don’t remember who exactly said it, but it was a great quote and deserves to be repeated and used as an example. “Any prayer worth praying, is worth praying badly”.

Good words to live by and to pray by. What’s most important is not what we say or how we say it, but that we do pray. For prayer opens our heart to God and when our hearts open, the Holy Spirit enters and will help lead us to the Father. Our Lady in her any messages from Medjugorje tells us again and again to pray. Always she asks us to pray. And in prayer is every answer to our needs. In prayer the natural order can be changed and even wars can be stopped. Mary loves us and prays for us all the time. So let’s live Mary’s message and pray and in prayer be an example to others. We can’t force others to change and if we did it wouldn’t work for long, but through our example and through our prayer, we can help our Lady lead other to her Son.

I pray for you and for your intentions and wish you a good day and a blessed week. May God bless and protect you,  George

Good day to everyone. I’m so excited to be given this opportunity to again write for you. I’d like to share an experience I had a few weeks ago on Holy Thursday. My wife had gone to visit her Mother for Easter, so I went to church alone and was sitting in the pew, thinking of my Lenten experiences and how I had prepared myself for Easter. As usual, I didn’t do all I’d wanted, but had done better than usual in preparing and opening myself to inner reflection. And than I heard my name called ” George, come here” “would you get your feet washed?” They needed one more person. Uhhhh, ok. So I joined the group that was waiting, kind of excited, but nervous, as were most of the group. I’m not usually the one that goes in front, preferring to be an observer.

Watching others in years past, seems pretty simple, but when you’re the one up front, I got a little nervous. Don’t do something dumb, trip or pass out. I was honored to be there, but as time got closer, I started thinking of how little I deserved to be there. I kept having Peter’s words go through my mind, “Lord, you will never wash my feet”. I understood exactly how he must have felt. I didn’t feel like I really deserved to be there, there are so many more people who deserve it more than me, but there I was. How often God has chosen the least worthy, and there I felt I qualified.

It was a lesson in humility as I thought how the Apostles must have felt when Jesus took the role of the servant and washed their feet. Honored, yet humbled. I survived, nobody passed out when I took off my shoes, a brief intense moment as our priest washed my feet, the deacon knelt and dried my foot and it was over. I looked at the lady next to me, we both breathed out and smiled. A moment I shall never forget, and a moment I will often think of when I think of trying to be humble. Humility, a lesson that Jesus has shown us again and again, and that for a brief moment, was made very personal.

I wish you all a good day. Enjoy our spring weather, which is finally starting to warm up. I love to watch the flowers and trees as they start to bloom. God bless you, George

We’ve all heard this many times, the wedding feast and when his Mother asked, Jesus turned water into wine. It’s a very familiar miracle, one we’ve heard and been explained to us many times and than, listening to Immaculate Heart radio one day, I heard a different thought. It’s been in my mind ever since and I planned to explore and share, and with it being one of our readings this Sunday, time seems right. So let’s see where this takes us.

Why was Jesus’s first public miracle about wine, about keeping the party going on? About something for personal enjoyment. Or was it?  Think about the weddings you’ve been to. They’re a joyous occasion. A man and a woman becoming one, starting a life together. So much stress getting everything just right for this special day. The dress, the cake, who to invite, pick the band, the sitting arrangements, where to have it, two families joining together, etc, etc, etc. The tension builds until at times, it seems like it’s going to blow up, and sometimes it does. I’m sure weddings 2000 years ago where much the same, as today.

And than, the ceremony, the I do, I do. It’s done, the stress, the tension starts to bleed away. Have a glass of wine, it’s a little better. The feast, the toast and congratulations, the cake and the parties on. Everyone’s having a good time, some maybe a little too good, but we’re all enjoying ourselves. And than the wine runs out, is the party over? beer run? go somewhere else to continue? or pull out the private stock?

Whatever happens, the party ends, or it changes. Jesus’s ministry was about giving, caring, curing, about helping others, why would his first public miracle be about having a good time? Good question, isn’t it. Does every miracle need to be life changing?

Can it be as simple as Jesus thinks it’s important for us to enjoy life? To have a good time at those special times in our lives? To enjoy without worrying.  Or could it be as simple as Mary saw a need and asked? “Ask and you shall receive.” Why do we think we can only ask for the big things in life. Maybe God wants us to rely on and ask him for all the little important things too. If we trust God and ask for all things, maybe life would be simpler. Maybe. I don’t know, but there is something I do know, if you ask and ask with a sincere heart, God gives and gives abundantly.

Jesus doesn’t ask for the wine bottles, or a jug or two, he asks for water jugs. I don’t know about you, but I can go through a gallon of water pretty quick, but a bottle of wine can last me for a while. 6 jugs holding 20-30 gallons of wine equals 120 -180 gallons of wine. A lot of wine, probably much more than they started with. In the miracle of the loaves, when Jesus fed the 4000 and the 5000, turning a few fish and a few loaves into enough to feed all. The point was made at the end of how many baskets were leftover. There was an abundance left. Jesus doesn’t give just enough, when he gives, he gives abundantly, without cost, without worry. God isn’t stingy with his gifts. Ask.

Have a good day, and God bless you, George

As I finished my post last week and sent it, almost immediately I started thinking of all that I forgot to add. You get this thought going through your mind of what to write, have all these good ideas and once you start to write, it always seems to go another direction and you forget all you wanted to say. It seems like as I get older, my memory last for about 5 minutes, or until I try to say what I was thinking, and my mind automatically goes blank. Unless if course, you try to forget something, and that, you can’t get out of your mind. Oh, well, the good news is after I finish this, I’ll forget what I was thinking, so I won’t feel bad about what I missed.

Anyhow, I heard something last week on Immaculate Heart radio, that I heard before, but it really hit me this time. The first 30 popes of our faith were martyred. The first 30!! We think we have it hard living our faith sometimes, of stepping up and helping out, of volunteering or taking a post we really don’t want the responsibility of. Can you imagine taking a job, a career post, a promotion and knowing that you were going to die. Not just dies, but be tortured and killed in a gruesome manner. Can you imagine what kind of faith that took? I can’t , not really.

It’s hard enough for me sometimes to show myself as Catholic. Not that I’m ashamed, because I’m never afraid to profess my faith, but to take that first step, leave myself open to snickers, expressions that some people give you, or comments. It’s easier to just do nothing and just kind of blend into the background. The Sign of the Cross, so easy to do in church, at home, but so difficult to do in front of strangers. Blessing your food at home, vs in public. Why is it so hard to do good, show your faith in front of others, when you’re not in church? And we’re in America where we are protected in our faith. Many countries don’t have the freedom we do. They are prosecuted, attacked, beaten, ridiculed, even killed for their faith. Yet, they do it, not without fear, but with faith.

Peter, the apostles, these 30 popes, the first leaders of the Catholic church, they had faith. They didn’t have a set of rules, didn’t even have the bible to follow. But, they did have an example to follow, Jesus, our Lord and Savior. They gave us our traditions, they lived the stories, wrote the stories in the Bible. Established our Catholic church, and they gave us an example to follow, that it is worth, even our lives, to follow Jesus.

Our country has it’s problem, and we’re part of it. As Catholics, we need to step up, show our faith, show others the way. We’ve been quiet too long. We need to speak out. Our country, especially our children need to hear our message. Let them see our example. They need a path to follow, and it’s not on the internet. It’s in those holy pages, it’s in our story of our faith and of our fathers. The Holy Bible, let it guide us and keep us on the path. And church, how we need the mass and the Holy Eucharist.

May you have a safe and blessed New Year. God bless and protect you, George

As Christmas is just around the corner, I’ve had some thoughts as we prepare for our Lord, Jesus’s birth. With over 20,000 religions in the world, and such faith and love in Jesus in so many of the people, and the beliefs so similar in many faiths, why be Catholic? It’s not always easy, with just a few changes, we could be so many other faiths, and not have to put up with the doubts, the abuses that you sometimes get as a Catholic. Catholics stuck with their old outdated religion. It’s time to get with the times.    Update, is the popular word. Or is it?

What difference, really does  a few words or beliefs really make? If you’re a good person, or have a strong belief in God, what difference does a couple of changes make? Get with the times, what people really want from their faith. God loves us all, wants us to be with him in paradise. Why fight the crowd? Why put up with the questions, the doubts? Well, let me share with you a little story, one that’s been around for a long time, and you may have heard, but I think it really illustrates “What difference can a word, or even in a letter can make?” Enjoy.

A young monk arrives at the monastery. He is assigned to helping the other monks in copying the old canon and laws of the church by hand.

He notices, however, that all the monks are copying from copies, not from the original manuscript. So, the new monk goes to the head abbot to question this, pointing out that if someone made even a small error in the first copy, it would never be picked up! In fact, that error would be continued in all the subsequent copies.

The head monk, says, “We have been copying from the copies for centuries, but you make a good point, my son.”

He goes down into the dark caves underneath the monastery, where the original manuscripts are held as archives in a locked vault that hasn’t been opened for hundreds of years.

Hours go by and nobody sees the old abbot…..

So, the young monk gets worried and goes down to look for him. He sees him banging his head against the wall and wailing

“We missed the   R !    We missed the  R !      We missed the  R !

 His head is all bloody and bruised and he is crying uncontrollably. The young monk asks the old abbot, “What’s wrong, father?”

 With a choking voice, the old abbot replies, “The word was……      

                                                        Celebrate!!!”

 Yes, what a difference a word, or a letter can make!  Jesus never told us it was going to be easy, but if we believe in Jesus, we have to believe what he said when he told Peter “You are Peter, and upon this rock, I will build my church, and all the gates of hell, will not prevail against it!” How can you not believe what Jesus told us? And when you have people ask you what difference does this little thing make, this one thought, this one belief. “He, She’s a good person. They believe in God, they love others. God loves us all” Don’t be shy, remember what difference even a single letter can make, and tell them… “Yes, God does love them and wants them to be in paradise with him, but this is what Jesus told us, this is what Jesus showed us. Yes, God wants us in heaven, but it’s going to be on his terms, not on ours.”

  I wish you all a wonderful and blessed Christmas season. God bless you, George

Advent, the season of preparation, as we make ourselves ready for Jesus. Contrary to popular belief that we’re getting ready for Santa, and staying off the naughty list. A lot of things are similar. Being good, being nice to others, someone always knows what you’re up to, knows if you’ve been good or bad. There are differences, reindeer eating from a manger, Jesus lying in a manger, presents under a tree, and our Saviour hanging from a tree, presents that are broken in a week, or laying in a corner, forgotten soon after being opened, eternal life with God.

Yet, unfortunately, too often our focus is on the present, and presents, instead of on Jesus and eternity. It’s a lot easier to go after instant rewards, for a while. But you have to keep changing the rewards, to keep the interest going. A wind up toy, than a bike, ipod, electric scooter, a computer, a car, a fancy vacation. Always something new, always something wonderful, something fun, something exciting, until the new, the fun, the exciting wears off and than the search goes on again, and again. We’re never satisfied for long, until we learn what really satisfies us and it’s right there before our eyes. God

God, always there, always waiting for us. Always gives us what we need, not what we want, but what we need. Himself. God is our greatest gift, the gift that satisfies. This Christmas as we look for that perfect gift, because we still live in the world and need to be part of it, but as you look for the gift, think about giving a gift that satisfies. Maybe not the gift they were looking for, a bible, a rosary, a statue of picture of Jesus, or Mary or one of our favorite saints, a good book, about faith. They may not thank you too eagerly now, but in the time to come they will appreciate what you have given them and maybe it will help keep them on the right path, the path to God.

And share your time, your faith, your story, especially with our kids, our nieces and nephews. They need to hear it, you never know, you might not get another chance. As we pray for the victims and their families in Connecticut, we can only imagine their pain, their loss. Let us also pray for their healing, and that they may turn to God in their need, for we know that God will help them, be there for him, in all the dark days and nights to come, and He will lead them back from their sorrow. God bless and protect them.

I wish you all a good day and week and a stress free shopping season. Take a few extra minutes to spend with God, say an extra prayer for others during the holidays, prepare yourself for the birth of our Saviour, Jesus. Enjoy your families, and God bless and protect you, George

Life is so busy nowadays, and the holiday season even more so. Life has always been about choices. As kids, we choose friends, teammates, classes, where we sit, who we sit by, what table to sit at lunch. Important decisions at the time, maybe not as important now. Choices get harder. What college to attend, or not attend, than what job to get. We choose careers, a spouse, kids, house, car, etc, etc. A lot of the basic choices, but each choice we make guides us onto a different path, than other choices would have.

Some choices turn out good, sometimes even great, while other choices change our lives, not always for the better. We used to start a job, and retire doing the same job, or with the same company. Now if you stay 5 years, you’re an oldtimer. Marriage was for life, now divorce is 50%, with many people getting married multiple times. You bought a house together, and than helped raise your grandkids in it. You had a few best friends and did everything together, including getting gold together. Now you have a thousand friends on facebook, text everything that you want to say, (while you’re in the same room?)

Faith, it was simpler, easier. You went together with family, with friends. There was always someone around who reminded you, when you needed reminded, help give you a nudge to keep you in the right direction. Now we have a new religion on every corner, don’t like one, there’s another just waiting for you. It’s not so simple being Catholic, well…. I guess it really is simple. This is our faith, it’s not pick and choose. We don’t change for the times, to make people happy. If we follow our faith, follow the teachings that Jesus gave us, life is simple and seems to turn out right.

Like everyone else, I’ve made bad choices in life. I haven’t always followed my faith as well as I should, played cafeteria Catholic, were I choose what I wanted and kind of ignored the difficult parts. My life seems to always turn out better when I have faith and let Jesus lead me. I let the stress go, and have faith that I will follow the right path. Where choices seemed so difficult, and there seemed no right answer, now choices have become simpler. I say a prayer and trust God to lead me. I don’t lie awake thinking of my choices, if I do, I say a prayer, give it to God and go back to sleep.

Since the election, I’ve talked to people who are so stressed out and so worried about the direction our country is heading. One of the best things that happened in the election was how many more people paid attention, looked at the issues, the candidates, at the condition of our country. We have problems, and they’re not going to go away overnight, but God is bigger than our problems. If we have faith, pray for our nations, pray for our leaders. Pray that our country make get back on the path of our founders and their beliefs. Let your voice be known. If you’re like most people, you’ve kept your mouth shut, never really shared your beliefs and that’s what our country needs.. How often have we let the few, determine what direction our country is going? Too often. Being polite, being quiet. It’s important that we let our voices be heard, our views and our beliefs.

If each of us let our leaders know what we want, what we believe, our voices would be heard, because it would be overwhelming. We can’t just stay in the background, in our faith and our beliefs. Speak up, let our kids, our family know what we believe and what we don’t believe in. Too often, I didn’t speak, because I didn’t want to rock the boat, or push my beliefs on others. So how would people know what you believe? what you stand for? Now we stand for a lot, that we might not believe in because we didn’t speak up before.

Jesus tells us to go out and evangelize. We don’t have to go crazy, but it’s important that we choose to speak up. It won’t always be easy and can be uncomfortable at times, but I would rather be known for what I said, that what I was too afraid to say, or share.

This wasn’t the article I thought I was starting to write, but it is what I believe we need to do. For our faith, for our country, for ourselves.

God bless you and have a good day, George

We’re in the Year of Faith and it has had me think a little more about my faith, not my Catholic faith, but my personal faith. I’ve looked a little more into myself, looked at what I believe, and what I practice and does my life reflect my beliefs. Often I’ve kept my mouth shut when I should be expressing myself, sharing my beliefs. It’s a problem that too many Catholics have. We don’t want to offend, don’t want to appear to judge, so we keep our mouths shut, so too many opinions are one-sided, and because we’ve said nothing, we’re judged to agree, when actually our opinions are quite different.

It’s one reason our country has drifted away from “in God we trust.” Going to school in the 60′s and 70′s, you started the day in school with a prayer and the pledge of allegiance. Do you remember the pledge, it’s in some schools, but it used to be mandatory to say it in school every day. “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”  As kids we didn’t always take it as seriously as we should have, but it set the tone for the day, and it made us more responsible and more loyal to our country. We had a willingness to do what was right, without regard to the cost. With our hands over our hearts and looking at the flag, we put a value and respect onto our flag.

It’s not that we still don’t have that today, it’s just a lot more scarce. But we can change that, we just have to open our mouths and share our beliefs. Not in the bossy, preachy kind of way, but it’s important that we share our faith, our beliefs and with a little knowledge, most will make a better decision, maybe not right away, but with time, and prayer. The Bible tells us that anything is possible with faith. Mary tells us in her messages from Medjugorje www.medjugorje.com that prayers can, and have changed the course of history. We need to pray, for ourselves, for our families, our friends, our country, our world. And the more we pray, the more we’ll be able to share, and the more we’ll help bring our country back on track.

Sorry, I got off track, again. I meant to share a prayer that I found on the Year of Faith from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. It’s aptly titled  “A Family  Prayer For The Year Of Faith”. O God our Father, in Jesus you call our Christian families and homes to be signs of living faith. By the light of the Holy Spirit, lead us to be thankful for the gift of faith, and by that gift may we grow in our relationship with Jesus, your Son, and be confident witnesses to Christian hope and joy to all we meet. In the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

I wish you all a good day, may God bless and protect you and your families, George

Well, we’re entering the final days, at least so far as the presidential election goes. Billions of dollars spent and millions and millions of ads. I think that many people feel as I do, that we’re glad the election is here, just so we don’t have to see any more ads. And they’re so negative, instead of emphasizing their positives and what they have done and will do for us, they focus on the negatives of their opponent.

It’s a lot easier to focus on what your opponent does wrong, or what can be perceived as wrong, than focus on ourselves. Safer, too. If you make a mistake it’s on your opponent, rather than on yourself. We’re much the same. Always have been. The Bible tells us to remove the beam from our own eye, so we can better see the splinter in someone’s else’s eye, yet we persist on looking for the splinter.

Well. I got off on another tangent instead of what I was planning to write again. It seems like I get start with a phrase or sentence and keep thinking of something else to add. Next thing I know, I forgot what I was going to write about.

The election. We’ve heard it all, pluses and minuses, even survived the debates. Most of us have made up our minds, 20% of us have voted already, yet even for those of us that are sure who we’re going to vote for, we still have some doubts. There are so many issues, and so few clear cut winners. Both sides have some good points, some good ideas, and both have their problems. So how do we determine? Their looks, their age, the party that supports them, past decisions they have made, their beliefs. If they say what we want to hear, which isn’t always what they have done in the past? it’s not easy, and there’s always doubts, we’re not 100% sure, even when we tell others we are. We vote more against somebody, that for someone.

This year, I’m looking at it a little different and and my vote will be based on faith and the values that I feel are important and those values that are based on my faith. The most important value is Life, without life what else is there. God gave us a gift, the gift of life, and than gave us freedom to choose. We choose how we spend our life. I have never believed in abortion, yet have never really thought about it, nor discussed it with others. Always figured it wasn’s my place to tell others how to think. Now, I feel it’s not right, if I don’t say how I feel, how I think. I believe in life.

Mother Teresa of Calcutta put it in words that say it better than I ever could “It is a very great poverty to decide that a child must die that you might live as you wish.”

This year before you vote, take a moment and say a prayer, a prayer that you might vote for those who will best serve our country. Vote for those who best support your values and the values of your faith, our Catholic faith. Vote for those who support life, because if you don’t value life, how much are your other values worth.

Have a good day. God bless and protect you and may                                               God bless America and all that we stand for. Thank you, George