Advent Hope

My Hope for this Christmas.

 

“Look for Christ Our Lord in everyone and you will then have respect and reverence for all.” Saint Teresa of Jesus.

This Christmas season, I hope to see God in others. I want to see with the eyes of a Saint, even through a Saint’s eyes, I hope to see Christ. Last month, I shared the song ‘Mary Did You Know,’ by Dolly Parton and the part in the song where she sings, “He walks where Angels trod,” stood out for me and it means  to lead a way of sanctity, to be a saint. To be able to serve and give to the poor, the hungry, the thirsty, those persecuted, the neglected, the marginalized and to those in need and want of love, I need to see with the eyes of my heavenly Father. Sometimes, it might feel as though my eyes could be fooled but to fool my heart, think again. I truly believe, it’s with our hearts that we can see rightly and that is why I would like to see God in others, especially other Christians, disciples, followers of Jesus Christ. Are we acting out our belief? Do our actions match what we proclaim? We have all heard the expression “Actions speak louder than words.”

This is something else I hope for, for our actions to speak louder this Christmas, we can talk about God always but it’s about putting our love for God, God’s love for us into action, being charitable, helpful, supportive, and encouraging. Bringing the gift of Hope, Peace, Joy, Love and Faith to someone, reminding them that there is something and someone to believe in, to trust.

Women of Faith and Hope,

this is my hope for this Christmas Season, to see Christ in everyone, everything and in every way and after I want to speak about it, to tell you more Good News.

May God Bless Always, Women of Faith and Hope.

Written and created by My Mother Rose.

'Be On Guard For Our Gift Giver.'

 So, stay awake, because you do not know the day when your master is coming.

Matthew 24:42

Do you hear that knocking at the door? Do you not see or hear me standing there knocking? Will you open the door to God this Christmas?

If you open the door, I will come in, and eat and drink with you and

God will come in, eat and drink with you.

 Women of Faith and Hope, this Sunday, I offer you a special gift of hope, well not only me but our Lord the giver. I was researching and a quote popped into my head; “The gift that keeps on giving.” Author Unknown.

This Sunday, we set our minds above, we wait, we prepare, and we get ready to welcome, the most precious gift anyone could ever ask for.

I truly believe it’s not how much we give its how much love, time we put into gifting, that matters the most, and it’s really the heart of the giver.

I do love gifts though, not that I need much. Maybe it’s all in the surprise of receiving such a special gift. A gift that is unexpected, a gift to make us feel special, joyful and loved. When we receive our gifts, we fall in love with the giver, who has put effort, time, our needs and desires above their own to make it special and one of those memories that we are forever grateful for.

Do we feel the same way about Our Lord God the giver of life, giver of courage, strength and the giver of peace?

I hope so, with the year we have had, the whole world has had, I hope we can still be thankful and grateful for Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Psalm 9:2-3,

We will praise him, with all our hearts, we will recount all his wonders, and we will rejoice and be glad.

Women of Faith and Hope, we need to be the gift that keeps on giving and this possibly could be our challenge for the week ahead.

‘To bring hope to one another.’

Someone out there is on guard and awake, awaiting the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Maybe we need the Christ in us, with us and who surrounds us, to reach out to someone. The challenge is to reach out to someone, who you might never talk to, someone who has left the community and you think about sometimes, how they are going? You, might wonder what they might be doing? You could write them a letter, or leave a note on their car windscreen. Another idea, a friend of mine left five dollars in a note inside the trolley she had finished using.

Or, you can reach out to that person who is difficult to love, to trust,
that brother or sister in Christ who you need to reconcile with.

Many options, many random acts of kindness and lots to think about this week. Let us create space, create silence and listen to him!

Wisdom 18:14-15,

When peaceful silence lay overall, and night had run the half of her swift course, down from the heavens, from the royal throne, leapt your all-powerful word; into the heart of a doomed land the stern warrior leapt. Carrying your unambiguous command like a sharp sword.

 

May God Bless Always, Women of Faith and Hope.

Written and created by My Mother Rose

 

The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

 

Jesus helps us to understand that his Mother, always kept the word of God in her heart and there is the word again ‘Observe.’ She observed it in her life and that we should too, not only hear the word of God but to be a doer of the word of God. ‘Blessed are they who hear the word of God and keep it. Luke 11:28.

“If you follow her, you will not go astray. If you pray to her, you will not despair. If you think of her, you will not be lost. If you cling to her, you will not fall. If she protects you, you will not fear; if she is you guide, you do not tire; if she is favorable to you, you reach your goal.” Saint Bernard of Clairvaux.

May God Bless Always, Women of Faith and Hope.

Written and created by My Mother Rose.

'God With Us.'

 

Luke 6:31

Treat others as you would like them to treat you.

I had a last-minute reflection, I wanted to share; We all might know Jesus and we possibly can say this confidently, however, have we considered, every person knows Jesus Christ in some way. I thought back to all those times, I had seen him in a smile, a hug and even a handshake.

If we say, we are a Christian, a disciple of Jesus Christ and we don’t forget who we are trying to follow and who is leading us, then we have a responsibility as a child of a King, to Love his other children.

The bible clearly says, love one another because love comes from God.

I am not saying we need to feel obligated, we are not required to hang out with anyone or to participate in sin or in something we do not approve of, but we are Christians who need to act genuinely in love.

The truth is, we need each other on this journey, we need to remember, God gave us each other, to encourage, to walk alongside another, to bring hope, peace, to inspire, to love and  have faith in each other as much as we have faith in God.

Why is it though, we can easily reject and exclude a person?

We can’t avoid rejection, but it’s not necessary and I hope no one compares it to saying Grace at a restaurant and having people stare at you strangely, because this could never ever feel quite like a rejection. Rejection, social rejection means and occurs when an individual is deliberately excluded from a social relationship or social interaction and for example being told; “You’re not invited, you’re not ready and it’s not your time.” It also means, a person can be rejected by individuals or a group of people. Rejection can be either active, by bullying, teasing, or ridiculing, or passive, ignoring a person, or giving them the silent treatment. Rejection hurts! Rejection hurts so much, and it can cause so much pain.

Why do it to one another?

If you know how it feels, then how can you treat another person the same way you have been treated?

I can imagine Jesus Christ, taking his seat on his throne of glory, and hear him saying to each one of us. “what you did to one of the least of these Brothers or Sisters, you did it to me.” And, you neglected to do this to one of least of these, you neglected to do it to me.

Each one of us, is God’s greatest possessions, as much as he is our greatest possession and it’s not our relationship with God, that is ruined because no one could ever ruin what we have with God. I believe , the person/peoples who rejects, who neglects to feed, clothe, visit one of the least of these Brothers and Sisters, has ruined it for themselves. Their the ones who have denied someone their baptismal rite, communion rite or their actually human rite to share their gifts, talents and strengths with their community all because they hate you, don't like you or feel you are different to everyone else.

We shouldn't feel bad for them, but somehow we do after all they are our Brother and Sister in Christ. I guess that says a lot about us as Women of Faith and Hope.

'Forgiving, merciful, compassionate and loving.'

But, if I have learnt something, God is always, with us, in us and around us all the time and it’s our choice, we choose the way we act, behave, no one else chooses it for us.

I would like to hope, Women of Faith and Hope, we have all inherited the Kingdom prepared for us since the foundation of the world.

May God Bless Always, Women of Faith and Hope.

Written and created by My Mother Rose.

Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe!

 

Be friends with one another, and kind, forgiving each other as readily as God forgave you in Christ.

Ephesians 4:32

‘The way we treat Christ, should be the way we treat one another.’

Sunday is the day for, Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe and over these past few weeks, months, we have been led to this Gospel, this lesson, before we embark on our Advent journey.

Women of Faith and Hope, we all love Jesus Christ, we adore him, we glorify him, we praise him, and we place our trust and faith in him. We show respect and give thanks for all the wonders of the world and for all those amazing works he does for us in our own lives.

Wow! We do have a lot to confess in the name of Jesus Christ. After we seek the Kingdom first, what are we doing for one another in Christ? How do we treat another Brother or Sister in Christ?

I have an activity for you all, Women of Faith and Hope.

My Children love reading Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see? By Eric Carle. So, Women of Faith and Hope, what do you see? Go ahead; look at the person beside you, lying beside you, sitting beside you. Take a look at a photograph, if you are driving, riding a bike or maybe you might be walking, take a quick glance at the person walking towards you. Who do you see? Do you see Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe?

 And so we have no eyes for things that are visible, but only for things that are invisible; for visible things last only for a time, and the invisible things are eternal.

2 Corinthians 4:18,

We have all heard this at mass:

“The Lord is with you.” We say, “And with your Spirit.”

As he promised, today and always or until we meet again, Our God will always be with us, and as we know God is with us, we can do anything, we can help and be a blessing to one another. For, Christ is the hungry, thirsty, the stranger, naked, the sick, the prisoner, your neighbor and the one you are looking at right now.

‘Call him your companion, as we are to be companions on this journey.’

You see, Jesus, did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as ransom for many and if we are followers, disciples of Jesus Christ then we need to put the needs of others before our own, we weren’t born to be served but to serve one another in the name of the Lord Jesus, always giving thanks to God the Father through him.

‘What we do, we do for Christ.’

There will come a day, Women of Faith and Hope, when our Shepherd walks among us, well, if you think about it, our shepherd already walks with us, sits with us, talks with us, laughs with us and is always living with us.

2 Chronicles 15:2

He went out to meet Asa and said, ‘Listen to me, Asa, and all you of Judah and of Benjamin. The Lord is with you so long as you are with him, when you seek him, he lets you find him, when you desert him, he deserts you.

May God Bless Always,

 Women of Faith and Hope.

Written and created by My Mother Rose.

 

 

 

Saint Elizabeth of Hungary

 

“Everything I own really belongs to the poor.” Saint Elizabeth of Hungary.

Today we remember Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, a mother, and wife who was married at the age of 14. Elizabeth started to learn about the way of Francis of Assisi and started to live them. Her husband was supportive of her charitable efforts. It’s believed, Elizabeth's husband is venerated in Thuringia as a saint, but never was canonized by the church. Elizabeth became a Franciscan tertiary, founded a hospital in honor of Saint Francis, and dedicated herself totally to the care of the poor. Saint Elizabeth was only 24 when she died.

Two legends I thought I would share, Elizabeth is known for her miracle of the roses, Elizabeth was taking some bread to the poor in secret, she saw her husband Ludwig, asked her to revel what was hidden under her cloak, her cloak fell opened and a vision of white and red roses could be seen. God’s protection was proved to her husband.

The second legend, Elizabeth laid a leper in the she shared with her husband. Her mother in law, was horrified told Ludwig when he returned and when Ludwig removed the bedclothes, the eyes of his soul and instead of seeing a leper he saw the figure of Christ crucified and stretched out on the bed.

“How can I bear a crown of gold when the Lord bears a crown of thorns? And bears it for me?” Saint Elizabeth of Hungary.

That quote I have always wanted to say to someone, to remind them of the crown they should bear. Saint Elizabeth gave her life for her own brothers and sisters. Is this something we are willing do, to follow Christ? We have learnt to love, and we have come to know the one who gives up his life for us and we ought to give up our life for our sister’s and brothers. I shared this before; John 1:14-18, our love is not to just words or mere talk, but something real and active. Let us be compassionate and to love one another as he has loved us.

May God Bless Always, Women of Faith and Hope.

Written and created by My Mother Rose 

Advent

To Fear of the Lord.

 This week, I wanted to share the first verse of the Responsorial Psalm.

Psalm 127:1

O Blessed are those who fear the Lord and walk in his ways.

 

Women of Faith and Hope.

Most of us are working in secular jobs, occupations, at home, retired, we live ordinary family and social lives, and we are called by God, by the Spirit to make Christ known to others. It is our duty and our work for God to use the gifts and talents we have been given and to give testimony to a life lived in faith, hope and charity.

We are truly blessed, wouldn’t you say.

For we are living in him and he is living in us and it’s because of this, he lets us share his spirit.

Women of Faith and Hope, we all deserve a share in what we work hard for. Our hands go out to the poor; our arms are opened to those in need. We help and support those in our communities, in times of hardship, trials and in times of crisis. The door to our heart is opened to those strangers knocking, to the little children, who would like to hang out with our own children, playing in the backyard and eating zooper doopers.

 Yet, I fear the Lord, I fear his judgement of letting him down, I worry for my children, crossing the road, walking the streets, and going to a stranger’s home.

I hear God is saying; “fear not, for I will be with them, let them go.”

Women of Faith and Hope, did you know, to fear the Lord is the beginning of perfect wisdom and knowledge and understanding of the Holy One?

Proverbs 15:33 describes the fear of the Lord as a school of wisdom, humility, honor, as a discipline and instructions.

I want to pray for us; Lord, if we fear you, let us turn to you and listen, Let us remain faithful, constant and loyal in your teachings O Lord, so that we may have knowledge and understanding. May we have the confidence, the hope and the assurance of the things we do not see and may our service bring joy to our lives and the lives of others.

 ‘Happy are those who fear the Lord.’

Amen.

 

To finish, I wanted to share from scripture,

Ecclesiasticus 1:1-20,

The search for Wisdom and Fear of the Lord.

All wisdom is from the Lord, and it is his own forever. The sand of the sea and the raindrops, and the days of eternity, who can assess them? The height of the sky and the breadth of the earth, and the depth of the abyss, who can probe them?

Before all other things wisdom was created. Shrewd understanding everlasting. For whom has the root of wisdom ever been uncovered? Her resourceful ways, who knows them? One only is wise, terrible indeed, seated on his throne, the Lord. He himself has created her, looked on her and assessed her. And poured her out on all his works to be with all mankind as his gift, and he conveyed her to those who love him.

The fear of the Lord is glory and pride, and happiness and a crown of joyfulness. The fear of the Lord will gladden the heart giving happiness and joy and long life. With him who fears the Lord it will be well at the last, and he will be blessed on the day of his death. To fear the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; she was created with the faithful in their mother’s womb;

She has made a nest among men, an age-old foundation, to their offspring she will cling faithfully. To fear the Lord is the perfection of wisdom; she intoxicates them with her fruits; she fills their whole house with their heart’s desire, and their storerooms with her produce. The fear of the Lord is the crown of wisdom; it makes peace and health flourish.

The Lord has looked on her and assessed her; he showered down learning and discernment, and exalted the renown of those who hold her close. To fear the Lord is the root of wisdom and her branches are long life.

 

May God Bless Always, Women of Faith and Hope

Written and created by My Mother Rose.

 

 

 

Gifts.

 We are one body in this one Lord for all. Yes, we are made up of different parts, with different gifts and that is ok. I don’t think the body could function if we were all the same part, with the same gifts. To use my gifts within the church is very and near to impossible, it’s not that I don’t have the time or don’t want to. It’s because every time I offer my strengths, gifts and talents, I am ignored, dismissed and overlooked and quite frankly and honestly, I have chosen to walk away because a new door is being held opened for me. God’s gift to us, is our talents and what we do with our talent is a gift back to God. God is the only one with power to choose who gets what gifts in life and it’s up to us to accept the gift and use it fairly, wisely and freely.

I know I am a part of the body of Christ, we all are, everyone of God’s creations is a part and belongs to the body of Christ, sometimes it feels like, I never quite fit in with the rest and I am a part of the body that somehow, needs to be thrown out. If I don’t understand the vision or the mission of the Parish, then they become eager for you to leave and they never expect or want you to return.

Nearly every day, I am so thankful and grateful for Women of Faith and Hope. I couldn’t do it though without the many gifts God has poured out over me and I pray for all of you, Women of Faith and Hope, I truly do.

I want to share a little story:

Someone asked if anyone from the class of 2000, would be interested in sharing a video of our greatest memories of grade twelve, our senior year, I found this quote; “Gratitude is the memory of the heart.” Author Unknown, for me, grade twelve was all about revealing our true selves, allowing our peers to have a glimpse of who we were going to be in life and what we dreamt and always wanted to be. Now, I was never popular, and I am sure not many would know of me, but I was there, I graduated in the year 2000 alongside 200 or more students.

Recently, I had to have a discussion with my son who is seven and teach him a hard lesson, one we all must learn about. People aren’t going to like us in life and it’s going to hurt terribly, but you can’t let that stop you from being who you are and who you are supposed to be. Life can sometimes resemble high school. It can be competitive, hard, awesome, boring, fun and full of memories, memories we can look back on and be grateful for. I know I am grateful for the friends I have made, the examples of kindness, compassion and love and the amazing lessons I have learnt.

I pray and hope each one of us, finds a path that leads to our passion in life, Leads us to put our faith into action, leads us to use the talents that God gave us as a gift to use because it’s more than just words, it’s putting the word of God into action and living them daily. Mass is a place we can profess our faith, bring our talents and be free, free to be who we are meant to be, free to be who God needs us to be. There is nothing I want, and I know I am guided along the right path, it’s just a matter of finding the right place to be free in. After all it’s between me and God, not anyone else and God.  

 May God Bless Always, Women of Faith and Hope

Written and crated by My Mother Rose.

 

 

Wisdom

 

 Psalm 118:130, the unfolding of your word gives light and teaches the simple.

Sometimes, we need to sit awhile and take the time to listen and allow for others to speak wisdom into our lives. We often lack God’s wisdom when we are faced with difficulties, hardship and trials. James reminds us in chapter one verse five to seven, ‘If there is any one of you who needs wisdom, he must ask God, who gives to all freely and ungrudgingly; it will be given to him/her. But he/ she must ask with faith, and no trace of doubt, because a person who has doubts is like the waves thrown up in the sea when the wind drives.’ We all need true wisdom and I truly believe and have faith in God, that she will build a house; she will erect her seven pillars, slaughter her beasts, prepare her wine and lay her table. Proverbs 9:1-2. For you see Women of Faith and Hope, there are many struggles in life and it’s all to bind us together in love, to stir our minds, so that we can understand and come to really know God’s secret, in which all the jewels of wisdom and knowledge are hidden. Colossians 2:1-3. If you want wisdom, then go out and get her, for she walks about looking for those who are worthy of and graciously shows herself to us as we go and in every thought she will meet us. Wisdom 6:12-16. Our knowledge may speak of God but it’s our wisdom that listens. This month I would like to take the time to listen, listen more to God’s voice, to the voice of the Holy Spirit, to Jesus Christ, and to our Blessed Mother Rose and I would like to encourage you all Women of Faith and Hope to do the same.

May God Bless Always, Women of Faith and Hope.

Written and created by My Mother Rose

Our Bridegroom, Jesus Christ.

 

 ‘Bells will ring out to announce the blessed union.’

I do love fairytales; if I had to choose my favorite, I couldn’t. It would be very difficult to choose between Beauty and the Beast, The little Mermaid, Cinderella or Aladdin. But I do love the endings with bells ringing to announce their love, coming together in union.

Finding love in the real world though is very hard work and it takes a lot of effort, and patience.

I remember seeing an article on ways to prepare yourself for the one, to attract your perfect partner, the one that you would marry.  In the article it suggested such things as; clear space in your wardrobe, empty a draw and place a towel, deodorant, toothbrush, underwear and to prepare yourself by getting in shape, making sure you are well groomed, have a dream job, live a life spiritually, the more opened you are, the more positive energy you put out to the universe, the more chance you have for that one special person who will be your husband, father of your children to enter your life.

I was bathing my children on Sunday and they asked me; “How do you find true love? I didn’t really have an answer but it makes you think, how do we get ready for love that is meant to be? Why are we lead on a path that leads us to our destiny, to our fate? Then when we get to our destiny, we find our perfect partner; our bride, bridesmaid or bridegroom and they are not ready. They need to grow more; they need to be more prepared. It’s true though, there will come a time, and we will not know either the day or hour, all we need to do is be ready and waiting. What seems to be a little bit of a letdown, so disappointing is we have been on this journey and we are made to wait even longer. Life is short, I don’t want to waste another moment waiting around, wishing and hoping. I am ready now and the time is now for an everlasting love, a love that can reflect the love of God for the whole world to see.

So, what is a bridegroom? What is a bridesmaid? How can we prepare, and be ready for the coming of the bridegroom?

Firstly, Bridegroom appears in the Old Testament and the New Testament meaning, the husband of the bride. Bridegroom is a description used for God and especially for Jesus Christ, for we are the bride and Jesus is our bridegroom. I did though find a quote saying the following; “Jesus is the bridegroom, the church is the bride, the disciples are the wedding guests and John the Baptist is the best man.”  Author Unknown. I was reading Revelations and in chapter 19, verse 7-9 it says; ‘Let us be glad and joyful and give praise to God, because this is the time for the marriage of the Lamb. His bride is ready and she has been able to dress herself in dazzling white linen, because her linen is made of the good deeds of the saints. The angel said, “Write this; Happy are those who are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb” and he added, “all the things you have written are true messages from God.”

Secondly, a little knowledge I stumbled across, Bridesmaids have always served the bride and the story of Jacob in the bible and his two wives, Leah and Rachel, both were escorted to the wedding by their own servants, the bride’s maids. Genesis 29.

Revelation 21:2, I saw the holy city, and the New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, as beautiful as a bride all dressed for her husband.

Women of Faith and Hope, are we sensible in our preparation for the return of Jesus, our bridegroom? Or are we being foolish and reckless? I don’t believe we need to follow that article however, we could clear space in our hearts, and we could empty ourselves and replace the empty with love, faith, and hope. We could get in shape by practicing our faith, worshipping, praying, reading scripture and giving more time to God. We could make good choices, be kinder, compassionate and loving towards our families, our neighbors. We need to give God the permission to guide us in the right direction in life, to hold those doors wide open for us to enter through and our spiritual life, we need to give it fuel, nourishment to keep it going, and we need the body and blood of Christ in the Eucharist. If we give our lives, our bodies this fuel and nourishment, if this is the way to prepare for the return of the bridegroom then our lamps will be burning always, our lights will shine so bright for the return of Christ who will come in glory.

I kind of feel sorry for those bridesmaids, who weren’t ready and arrived later but I guess Jesus is saying, “I will come back but you need to be ready, to be prepared for the time will come, though you do not know either the day or the hour, be ready.” Matthew 25:1-13.

Women of Faith and Hope, being a bride means lots of preparation, though with the help of our bridesmaids, maybe we won’t be so burnt out and running on nothing. It’s ok to stop and rest and give yourself the time to regroup, refocus, and to reflect on the journey so far.

Isaiah 60:1-3

Arise, shine out, for your light has come, the glory of the LORD is rising on you, though the night still covers the earth and darkness the peoples. Above you the LORD now rises and above you his glory appears. The nations come to your light and kings to your dawning brightness.

May God Bless Always, Women of Faith and Hope.

Written and created by My Mother Rose. 

 

All Souls Day!

 Today, we take the time to remember not only our loved ones but all those souls that have departed. 

May God Bless Always, Women of Faith and Hope.

Written and created by My Mother Rose.