Blessed are those persecuted 5:10

 

Who are the persecuted?

Matthew 5:11-12, Happy are you when people abuse you and persecute you and speak all kinds of calumny against you on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven; this is how they persecuted the prophets before you.

Whether or not people listen or fail to listen we are to speak the word of God to people and to never back down despite criticism or judgement. Many saints were persecuted for following God so when we are faced with hardships or battles think of a saint such as Saint Mary Mackillop, Saint Monica, Saint Mary Magdalene, Saint Patrick, Saint Therese de Lisieux or St Francis de Sales. These amazing saints along with many more faced many obstacles, and it took faith, hope, grace, and love to overcome each obstacle that stood in their way. What encourages me and inspires me to keep sharing with you all and going to UNI is the strength and courage God gives to me and I trust when it is my time my reward will be great in heaven, and I am at peace with that.

May God Bless Always, Women of Faith and Hope.

Written and created by My Mother Rose.

Blest too the Peacemakers 5:9

 

Who are the peacemakers?

John 14:27 Peace I bequeath to you, my own peace I give you, a peace the world cannot give, this is my gift to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.

Every time I pray the Rosary I pray for peace and love for my family, friends, Women of Faith and Hope and the whole world. Each one of us can bring peace into our lives and the lives of others because through the Holy Spirit we are bound together by peace, his peace. We are being taught in this beatitude to unite and grow in love with one another as children of God’s.

I stumbled across an article because I couldn’t help wanting to know what the opposite of peace was and in the article it says, “The opposite of peace is not war, it’s fear” (The Opposite of Peace Is…? | The Prodigal Thought).

This to me is very interesting, when we are fighting against ourselves internally, we don’t have peace in our hearts, so externally, we want to lash out, we want revenge, we want someone to pay for disturbing our peace but as the author suggests we should take a moment to understand our fear. Who and What are we afraid of? Are we afraid of God, ourselves, or other people? I say afraid because when I am fearful, or I am worried and anxious I feel restless on edge, and this tells me that I am not allowing the peace of Jesus Christ to rule my heart. When I do allow the peace of Jesus Christ to rule my heart, I become what I am passionate about and that is to stand up, support and defend individuals God given rights in this world and in our communities. We don’t create peace by continuously punishing, rejecting, excluding, making a person feel unworthy or not good enough and certainly not being rude or ignorant. We create peace by acknowledging that everyone in this world is created in the image of Christ and that we are all called together as parts of one body of Christ, who are to love and live-in harmony with one another.

Colossians 3:15-17 And may the peace of Christ reign in your hearts, because it is for this that you were called together as parts of one body. Always be thankful. Let the message of Christ, in all its richness, find a home with you. Teach each other, and advise each other, in all wisdom. With gratitude in your hearts sing psalms and hymns and inspired songs to God, and never say or do anything except in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

May God Bless Always, Women of Faith and Hope.

Written and created by My Mother Rose.

Blest are the Pure in Heart 5:8

 

How to be Pure in Heart?

Psalm 118:9 How shall the young remain sinless? By obeying your word.

Well, I will be honest it’s not an easy task to live life blameless, we all fall short and at times we stop following the law of God, however it is something we should try and do in life seek him will all our hearts, never do anything evil but walk in his ways. Psalm 118:1-3.

May God Bless Always, Women of Faith and Hope.

Written and created by My Mother Rose.

Blest are they who show mercy 5:7

 Who are the merciful?

“Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” We all sin and when we do, we feel remorse, guilty even ashamed. Who do we go to when we need to be forgiven? We go to God and if we can ask for forgiveness for doing something that has hurt another person, we should be able to forgive those who hurt us. I know it’s hard to forgive someone who has caused so much pain and self-doubt and forgiveness is a process it takes time to make that decision but here in this beatitude Jesus is teaching us to be merciful to those who hurt us or offend us.  

I found a prayer that I wish to share with you all and I will share the link to where I found it 10 Powerful Prayers for the Forgiveness of Others – ConnectUS (connectusfund.org)

Prayer for Forgiving Others
Jesus, Prince of Peace, I pray that You provide the strength I need to forgive those who have offended me and hurt me. It can be so easy to want them to be punished for the wrong they have done and for them to get what they deserve. But that is not Your way, Jesus. Yours is the way of forgiveness. You are slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. Even when You were nailed to the cross, you cried out for God to forgive the very people who were murdering You. Fill me with Your strength, compassion, and love, dear Jesus. Mold me in Your image. In Your merciful name, I pray. Amen.

May God Bless Always, Women of Faith and Hope.

Written and created by My Mother Rose.

Blest are they who hunger and thirst for holiness 5:6

Who are they who hunger and thirst?

In 2020, while at Christmas Eve mass I went up to receive Holy Communion and I got back to my seat and my son looked over at me and he looked so thirsty and hungry. However, that is not quite the hunger and thirst we are talking about though. We are talking about those who are hungry and thirsty for what is right, for justice and peace. Putting on the breastplate of righteousness, we come to understand righteousness is something God gives us, we are not righteous on our own.

Micah 6:8, What is good has been explained to you, man; this is what the LORD asks of you: only this, to act justly, to love tenderly and to walk humbly with your God.

May God Bless Always, Women of Faith and Hope.

Written and created by My Mother Rose. 

 

Blest are the meek 5:5

 

Who are the meek?

1 Peter 5:5, To the rest of you I say: do what the elders tell you, and all wrap yourselves in humility to be servants of each other, because God refuses the proud and will always favor the humble.

One of Jesus’ virtues was meekness, and he teaches us to learn from him and as St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori says, “Learn of me for I am meek and humble of heart.” In everything we do, our actions should speak of humility and wisdom. Remember, being meek does not mean you are weak, it’s power under perfect control.

James 3:17-18, Whereas the wisdom that comes down from above is essentially something pure; it also makes for peace and is kindly and considerate; it is full of compassion and shows itself by doing good; nor is there any trace of partiality or hypocrisy in it. Peacemakers, when they work for peace, sow the seeds which will bear fruit in holiness.

May God Bless Always, Women of Faith and Hope.

Written and created by My Mother Rose.

Blest are those who mourn 5:4

 What does blest are those who mourn mean?

When I think of the word mourn, I am thinking those who mourn over someone who has passed away, we feel sorrow, regret, or sadness for the loss of someone or something. However, Jesus is teaching us to acknowledge our sins, to feel deep regret for our wrong choices although the Good News is Jesus suggests repentance which leads us to the grace and forgiveness of God.

Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 7:9-13, Our suffering leads to repentance and our kind of suffering God approves of so when we choose to change for the better, we leave no regrets. What is encouraging is we can live happily with no worries like Titus and again, I would like to remind you of the ‘Daughters of Jerusalem’ who Jesus meets on the way to Calvary. Luke 23:27-28, Large numbers of people followed him, and of women too, who mourned and lamented for him. But Jesus turned to them and said, ‘Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep rather for yourselves and for your children.

I would like to finish by sharing Titus 2:14, He sacrificed himself for us in order to set us free from all wickedness and to purify a people so that it could be his very own and would have no ambition except to do good.

“By saying “blessed are those who mourn,” Jesus does not intend to declare an unfortunate and burdensome condition in life to be happy. Suffering is not a value in itself, but a reality that Jesus teaches us to live with the correct attitude.” Pope Francis.

May God Bless Always and The Grace of God be with you all Women of Faith and Hope.

Written and created by My Mother Rose.

Blest are the Poor in Spirit 5:3

 What does poor in spirit mean?

Being poor in Spirit means we are spiritually bankrupt before God, it is like we have nothing to offer, we are spiritually empty and before we approach God in faith to receive his grace and salvation as a gift, we admit to our sins. Let’s see the positive side, “Blest are the poor in spirit: the reign of God is theirs.” First, be happy that each day we get to wake up and start all over again and experience Christ in a new way when we choose to go to him with an empty spirit. We don’t have to wait to go to the Kingdom of heaven to be happy, we can be happy now in the present, enjoying the Kingdom of Heaven on earth.

As Paul suggests in Philippians 3: 7-14, We realize at some point of all the advantages because of Christ Jesus and that nothing can ever outweigh the major advantage of knowing Jesus Christ our Lord. We have nothing to lose, we don’t have to reach perfection only the perfection that comes through faith in Christ. We haven’t won yet; we are all still running the race to the finish line and the prize to which God calls all of us upwards to the Kingdom of Heaven.

‘Don’t allow the past to haunt you move forward, keep running, he runs with us.’

May God Bless Always, Women of Faith and Hope.

Written and created by My Mother Rose.

The Beatitudes

The Beatitudes

Written and created by My Mother Rose.

“The Beatitudes are no spiritual “to do list” to be attempted by eager, rule-keeping disciples. It is a spiritual “done” list of the qualities God brings to bear in the people who follow Jesus.” Author Ronnie McBrayer

This January, I wanted to take the time to go through each Beatitude and explore what they mean and how can we live them in our own lives. As a part of the Mother Ministry, I am going to share a little activity that you might like to do with your children or grandchildren, and I am going to include a link to a card game that you may like to play as well Look to Him and be Radiant: Beatitudes & Modern Saints .Women of Faith and Hope as we explore the Beatitudes this month most of my research comes from the book (The Eight Beatitudes by Father Lovasik S.V.D.). 

First ask yourself this question what do the Beatitudes truly mean to me? I will be honest I never really understood the Beatitudes I thought as Christians and Catholics we prayed for people who were poor in spirit, who mourned, who are meek, for those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the peace makers, the merciful, the pure in heart and those who are persecuted for righteousness’s sake. I did not realize that it takes all of us to live up to the Beatitudes not just a few all who serve God, all who are following Jesus as disciples and all of us who are seeking heaven. So, let us climb and go up the mountain and hear Jesus teaching how one should live, how one should pray and how we should treat one another just the way God loves and cares for each one of us. On this journey we should pray to Jesus that we can imitate and understand his teachings and practice in our own daily lives.

Now ask yourself how are the Beatitudes going to teach me? The eight Beatitudes teaches us to trust in God, to live and aspire to the traits Jesus describes. Today and more than ever the Beatitudes do still have some relevance and have the power to make positive changes in peoples lives. We are truly blessed people to be able to possess the same qualities as the one who gave his life for us on the cross, which leads me to the following definition of Beatitude; ‘Beatitude means supreme blessedness, the state of divine favor. Spiritual blessedness, typically that reached after death.’ A little more meaning, Beatitude comes from the Latin beatitude, meaning blessedness.

“In the end, Jesus does not merely speak the Beatitudes. He lives the Beatitudes. He is the Beatitudes.” Saint Pope John Paul II

May God Bless Always. 

 

Window Stories

Recreating the birth of Jesus through the windows.

May God Bless Always, Women of Faith and Hope. 

Written and created by My Mother Rose. 

Advent Love 2021

Matthew 2:23

‘God-is with us.’

Women of Faith and Hope, why are we so honored to know Mary the mother of our Lord who among all women are most blessed?

Her yes, was an act of love a love for the whole world. At times I don’t feel worthy to know her, or to even pray the Rosary but she is a central figure for this time of year and a role model for so many women.

“We never give more honor to Jesus than when we honor his mother, and we are simply and solely to honor him more perfectly. We go to her only as a way leading to the goal we seek- Jesus her Son.” Saint Louis Marie de Montfort.

Maybe we honor Mary this Christmas and remind ourselves that because of her we have God with us in every moment of our lives. Nothing on this earth can separate or come between the love of God which is made visible in Christ Jesus our Lord who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary.

Romans 8:38-39

May God Bless Always, Women of Faith and Hope.

Written and Created by My Mother Rose.

Advent Joy 2021

Colossians 1:11

You will have in you the strength, based on his own glorious power, never to give in, but to bear anything joyfully.

Women of Faith and Hope, we trust, and we shall not fear with Angels we shout out with Joy

‘Hark the Herald Angels Sing.’

What does it truly mean to be happy?

Our answers will be different and that’s ok because we are different, you are you and I am me. There are many things in this life that make me truly happy and that includes Christmas time where we prepare for a feast, for time spent with family and friends and we prepare ourselves for mass on Christmas Eve.

Sometimes happiness hits so hard especially when I choose to be happy not sad, nor angry. I want to be happy and so does our Lord who reminds us of that in the Second Reading.

Philippians 4:4-7

I want you to be happy, always happy in the Lord; I repeat, what I want is your happiness.

So, a question was put forth to John in the Gospel,

Luke 3:10-18

 what, then, must we do?

In no way do I want to change the answer John gives in the Gospel but if I am to reflect upon that question and answer it, I would suggest we make a choice to be happy, to stop comparing ourselves with others because we are perfect the way we are. To finish happiness means different things, I am happy when the Spirit is upon me because I can bring the Good News to you all, it’s being content with what we have in life, being happy for the love we give and the love we receive.

May your Christmas be filled with happy thoughts, happy people, and happy times.

May God Bless Always, Women of Faith and Hope.

Written and Created by My Mother Rose.

 

Behold!

John 19:5

Jesus then came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said, ‘Here is the man.’

You might be thinking about the weird words which are written in the image this week,

“Eece Homo”- “Behold the Man!”

Well, let me explain I have been reading a book called Mediations on the Passion and Death of Christ, (Tan Books 2018). In the book those words are mentioned and the way the author has described what it means to behold the man makes me want to be there in the scene with Jesus. So, imagine Pilate bringing Jesus before the Chief Priests and the guards saying. “Eece Homo” which in Latin means behold the man, the Christ who is presented to his accusers bound and crowned with thorns. Also, as I was researching it was mentioned “Eece Homo” is a painting of Jesus Christ wearing the crown of thorns.

So, there I was sitting in mass and I couldn’t help but look over to the glass windows and be amazed of the vibrant colors that I saw beaming from each image. I want to take the time this week to consider what it means to ‘Behold.’ Behold means to look, to stare, to gaze to really consider and make a choice to observe or contemplate Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe.

When I look at the image, I see Mary who has an invitation an invitation that invites each one of us to ‘behold her son, her son that takes away the sins of the world.’ What do you see when you look, gaze or stare at Jesus? Do you see the King of your heart? Possibly you see Jesus making everything new again and you sense that he is always with you, and this is beholding the man, the man who stands at your door knocking.

“We become what we behold.”

 Author Unknown.

May God Bless Always,

Women of Faith and Hope

Written and created by My Mother Rose.

Merry Christmas Women of Faith and Hope 2021

Merry Christmas! Women of Faith and Hope.

May God Bless Always

by My Mother Rose. 

Advent Peace 2021

“I am a child of God, a woman of faith, a warrior of Christ, I am the storm.” Author Unknown.

Luke 3:1-6

‘A voice cries in the wilderness. Prepare a way for the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley will be filled in, every mountain and hill be laid low, winding ways will be laid low, and rough roads made straight. And all mankind shall see the salvation of God.’

Sometimes, it’s hard to hear the voice of God and to hear the voice that cries out in the wilderness. But when I sit and listen in silence turning the volume down, I just might hear the voice of God.

Isaiah 6:8

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying: ‘Whom shall I send? Who will be our messenger?’ I answered, ‘Here I am, send me,’

May God Bless Always, Women of Faith and Hope

Written and created by My Mother Rose

Advent Hope 2021

“You were created to be a woman of impact who is so in love with her Lord and so AWARE OF HIS MIGHT that she cannot help but EXPECT GREAT THINGS and move in HIS POWER & GRACE.” Author Unknown

Today is the First Sunday of Advent and we celebrate Hope, we all know hope is where we wait patiently and positively expecting something great to happen and right now all around the world we begin to wait and keep a close watch on our hearts for the coming birth of our dear baby Jesus Christ.

Do we look forward to the coming of the Lord?

May we take the time this Advent to know his ways, to allow Jesus to teach us and show us the path, to know and understand we walk in truth with a friend, a lover, and a father.

 

Proverbs 23:17-18

Do not let your heart be envious of sinners but be steady every day in the fear of the LORD; for there is a morrow, and your hope will not be nullified.

May God Bless Always, Women of Faith and Hope.

Written and created by My Mother Rose.

'My Words Will Not Pass Away.'

 

“Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.”

Mark 13:24-32

No matter what we go through in life we hold onto the words we find in verses, scripture, the bible, the Psalms, and each word brings hope and light back into our darkness and doubts.

I don’t ever think I could stray far from picking up my bible and reading it, to every word I hear, to every person I feel called to help to every dark moment in my life. His words remind me of a God who does not change and a God whose great love is without end.  

One of my favorite verses is from Isaiah 40:8 The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God remains forever. People pass, people come and go from our lives, seasons change it either gets colder or hotter, wetter or dryer but the one thing that remains the same is God, he is the same today, as he was yesterday and will be tomorrow.

Can we say that we remain the same?

I can’t say that I remain the same, each year I am a year older, possibly a little wiser or not the wiser, I try my best to make changes in my appearance, life choices and I make the effort to grow in my faith which is always changing because I am learning new things.

Over time you come to realize the importance of God’s Words and how it still can make an impact on people’s lives, for example we still talk and celebrate the birth of Jesus, we still journey through Lent discussing the Passion of Christ and what faith and Jesus means to us. This weekend as you listen to the readings and Gospel my only hope is for you to stay close to the word of God for it is the word of God that stands forever.

In the beginning was the Word; the Word was with God and the Word was God.

John 1:1

May God Bless Always, Women of Faith and Hope.

Written and created by My Mother Rose.

Putting In All We Have For God!

 

This week’s gospel acclamation is Matthew 5:3

Happy the poor in Spirit, the Kingdom of heaven is theirs!

I am so excited for January as we will be exploring the beatitudes.

Is it the quantity or the quality? How much do we put in? How much do we give back? I don’t want to talk about money, I am meaning more how much of us do we put in like the hokey pokey do we put our whole self in and shake it all about for God or are we only putting in a tiny portion of ourselves and giving back what we assume is enough for God. The Good News is he wants all of who we are as individuals and a community we all put in an effort and God knows that some may contribute much more and that is great, but no one should ever feel bad or feel guilty we give what we can and put in what we can whether that is our whole self or a tiny portion of who we are.

This week we hear about the poor widow who put in more than all who contributed something that has been on my mind this week and I was reminded yesterday morning, whose faith are we measuring up to? First, faith- is believing in someone or something, placing trust or confidence in someone or something for example faith in God, faith in your doctor, faith in your hairdresser. I would like to hope I measure up to the faith I receive from God unfortunately these days it’s hard not to compare and you do feel as though you must measure up to the faith of others if you want to belong to the click or the popular group. Here is the thing though, I don’t want to measure up to anybody else I finally understand the relationship between what I put in and what I receive from God. Here are two verses that may help us to understand further.

Romans 12:3-6

In the light of the grace, I have received I want to urge each one among you not to exaggerate his real importance. Each of you must judge himself/herself soberly by the standard of the faith God has given him/her. Just as each of our bodies has several parts and each part has a separate function, so all of us in union with Christ, form one body, and as parts of it we belong to each other. Our gifts differ according to the grace given us. If your gift is prophecy, then use it as your faith suggest.

1Corinthians 12:27-30

Now you together are Christ’s body; but each of you is a different part of it. In the Church, God has given the first place to apostles, the second to prophets, the third to teachers; after them, miracles, and after them the gift of healing; helpers, good leaders, those with many languages. Are all of them apostles, or all of them prophets, or all of them teachers? Do they all have the gift of miracles, or all have the gift of healing? Do all speak strange languages and interpret them?

These verses sum up that we are all different, we all have different gifts while we all belong to the One Body of Christ and so I guess what I am saying is we shouldn’t judge rather judge our own lives, we shouldn’t compare, and we shouldn’t separate or throw out what god is measuring out to the world or a community of people who believe in Jesus Christ. The widow is an example of someone who has a generous heart, someone who puts all that she has into loving God and uses her gifts as her faith suggests.

Can we Women of Faith and Hope use our gifs as our faith suggests?

Last night I went to a retreat, and I came to the realization that I must have acceptance for the things and people I cannot change, and I felt as though God was saying Katie do you willfully accept my proposal? After starring at an image of Mary on the front of a booklet and my answer is yes, I accept, and I will put in all that I have because the world needs people to be like Jesus loving, open, kind, compassionate, respectful, forgiving, and merciful. I feel the world is stressed, frustrated and angry and all it takes is for us to be there in the present moment listening, acknowledging, and giving a dam about another human being. To me the widow lived a simple life loving God and as I said before she put in all she had.

Will you put in all of who you are?

May God Bless Always, Women of Faith and Hope.

Written and created by My Mother Rose.

REPENT

Advent-Peace 5th December, 2021

This is the second week of Advent, I want to share this video, I watched this movie as a child and if I have a chance, I watch it on Good Friday. So, sit back and watch because it sums up the readings and the gospel.

May God Bless Always, Women of Faith and Hope

Children Giving Thanks.

 Hi Women of Faith and Hope, as I was researching about what it means to give thanks and be grateful I found 4 mealtime prayers for Children to give thanks for the food we eat.

1. God is great, God is good let us thank him for our food by his hands we all are fed, give us, Lord, our daily bread. Amen.

2. Thank you, God for food and prayer, teach us how to love and share. Amen.

3. We thank you Lord for the food before us, the shelter around us, the family beside us and the love between us. Amen.

4. Thank you, God for our food so good. Help us do the things we should. Amen.

May God Bless Always,

Written and created by My Mother Rose.

Giving Thanks at Dinner Time.

 So, my family and I don't say grace instead we go around the kitchen table and say one thing we are grateful for. My children love doing this and it's a great way to be interactive and communicate with each other. Do you say grace? Or maybe you are like me and say what you are grateful for around the kitchen table with your family or friends.

May God Bless Always, Women of Faith and Hope.

Written and created by My Mother Rose

Unbreakable Love.

 “Love is too strong a word to say it too early, but it has too beautiful a meaning to say it too late.” Author Unknown

When I think about telling someone I love them I think back to an episode of Friends where Rachel tells Ross she loves him after he says her name in London and she realizes how stupid she sounds and ends up laughing and feeling embarrassed.

I was pulling up into the driveway on our way home from football training and my son said “Mum, do you know love is unbreakable?”  I was quite speechless, and I am sure like always I said, “ok.” Not really understanding his random knowledge about LOVE! Love, however, is discussed in the Gospel this week and we hear once again the famous commandments.

“This is the first: Listen, Israel, the Lord our God is the one Lord, and you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: You must love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.

Mark 12:28-34

The first instructions Jesus gives seems easy, piece of cake unfortunately if you are like me when things get tough or things don’t go my way I turn against him, and I find it very difficult to love him with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength. Now, the second set of instructions Jesus gives is way too difficult and seems very impossible not really, I guess sometimes I just don’t understand some people in the way they act or behave especially if they say, ‘I Love God,’ but can be so hurtful, rejectful and exclusive.  However, it’s clear in 1 John 4:20 Anyone who says, ‘I Love God,’ and hates his brother/sister, is a liar, since a man/woman who does not love their brother or sister that he/she can see cannot love God, whom he/she has never seen.

We all have a place in the Body of Christ, and no one can ever take that away because his love for us is unbreakable. I am done trying to fight for a place and to fit in the Body of Christ, I believe in God, and I try with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength to love God and to love others as myself and I say try because it’s not easy I think it’s one of the hardest things ever. A couple of weeks ago I mentioned how I see two bodies of Christ one belonging to God and the other which is manmade and the only Body of Christ fighting for me to belong, to feel welcomed and included is the Body of Christ where Jesus is the head of the whole Church. As we read through this week’s Gospel are we ready to return the same unbreakable love especially to our neighbors even when their actions, behavior and attitudes hurt and cause one to doubt their worthiness. 

1John 4:17-19

Love will come to its perfection in us when we can face the day of Judgement without fear; because even in this world we have become as he is. In love there can be no fear, but fear is driven out by perfect love; because to fear is to expect punishment, and anyone who is afraid is still imperfect in love. We are to love, then, because he loved us first. 

Knowing love is unbreakable, I thought, you know it’s true love when it’s not breakable, love can withstand all obstacles of bad things, it’s a feeling you can’t really describe well sometimes it feels like home. When I consider my relationship with God it can seem at times one sided and it’s God fighting for me, and I take that for granted every time I choose to turn my back and walk away. Here is the thing, over time I gradually gravitate back towards God because it’s meant to be, I used to think I walked this journey alone and what I go through I go it alone but that’s not the case God walks with me; he goes through everything with me, and nothing ever tears us apart and that’s what makes me stronger his love is unbreakable nothing ever can come between the love God has for me and for you.

“A strong relationship starts with two brave people who are ready to sacrifice anything for one another.” Author Unknown.

John 15:12

LOVE ONE ANOTHER,

AS I HAVE LOVED YOU.

 

May God Bless Always, Women of Faith and Hope

Written and created by My Mother Rose.

 

God's word on the birth of Jesus day 10

 May God Bless Always, Women of Faith and Hope

Written and created by My Mother Rose.

God's word on the birth of Jesus day 9

 

May God Bless Always, Women of Faith and Hope

Written and created by My Mother Rose.

God's word on the birth of Jesus day 8

May God Bless Always, Women of Faith and Hope, Written and created by My Mother Rose. 

 

God's word on the birth of Jesus day 7

 May God Bless Always, Women of Faith and Hope.

Written and created by My Mother Rose. 

God's word on the birth of Jesus day 6

 May God Bless Always, Women of Faith and Hope.

Written and created by My Mother Rose. 

God's word on the birth of Jesus day 5

 May God Bless Always, Women of Faith and Hope

Written and created by My Mother Rose.

God's word on the birth of Jesus day 4

 May God Bless Always, Women of Faith and Hope.

Written and created by My Mother Rose. 

God's word on the birth of Jesus day 3

 May God Bless Always, Women of Faith and Hope. 

Written and created by My Mother Rose. 

God's word on the birth of Jesus Day 2

 

May God Bless Always, Women of Faith and Hope. 

Written and created by My Mother Rose. 

Laura Giving Thanks

 

May God Bless Always, Women of Faith and Hope

Written and created by My Mother Rose, Laura Farquhar 

God's word on the birth of Jesus day 1.

 May God Bless Always, Women of Faith and Hope.

Written and created by My Mother Rose. 

Faith & Hope.

 

Last week we heard Jesus say to James and John, “what is it you want me to do for you?” This week we hear Jesus say to Bartimaeus a blind beggar and the son of Timaeus, “what do you want me to do for you?” I was torn between that question and the following of what Jesus says after, “Go, your faith has saved you.”

Mark 10:46-52

Imagine you are called over to Jesus after he has heard you shouting out “Son of David, Jesus, have pity on me.” Remember this is something you have hoped for, and he asks you, “what do you want me to do for you?” What are you thinking about? What is going through your mind? How are you going to respond?

Somehow through our trials and tribulations, sufferings, and persecutions we lose hope and our confidence in the Lord Jesus Christ, well I know I do and that’s ok I am human my faith and hope aren’t always perfect or strong and it’s not until we encounter or reach out that we are reminded of that same joy Bartimaeus experienced, finally the Lord had done great things for him, and his faith saved him.

I wanted to share something that has helped my faith and hope recently, so, I have felt quite distant and far from God especially when attending mass. I have a beautiful friend who shared two reflections and on the top of the pages I saw verses from the bible on each, so I looked them both up and I wanted to share one with you all.

Psalm 138:7-10

O where can I go from your spirit, or where can I flee from your face? If I climb the heavens, you are there. If I lie in the grave, you are there. If I take the wings of the dawn and dwell at the sea’s furthest end, even there your hand would lead me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, “let the darkness hide me and the light around me be night,” even darkness is not dark for you and night is as clear as the day.

I must admit when things get hard, I want to run, I want to take off move somewhere no one knows me, start over, and create new beginnings. You see I am very flighty; I am easily excited but then I am scared and frightened I ask you though not to hold that against me because when I choose to stay it takes a lot of strength and patience to be honest, I don’t like being tied down and when I decide I am ready to do so I will get anxious. I know where I go God will be there, if I hide God hides with me so, all I wanted to say is thank you God.

Sometimes I feel as though God answers when the time is right, I was watching The Song of Bernadette and her story reminded me of Bartimaeus. Last week when James and John asked to sit one at the right hand and one on the left in his glory, we heard Jesus explain how that could be possible if we were willing to serve and give our lives as ransom for many meaning with joy and faith in our hearts are we able to suffer greatly for Christ and for the conversion of sinners. Many saints such as Bernadette suffered greatly, and the key ingredient is to accept suffering with hope, faith, and shouts of joy!

St. Vincent de Paul said, “If we only knew the precious treasure hidden in infirmities, we would receive them with the same joy with which we receive the greatest benefits, and we would bear them without ever complaining or showing signs of weariness.”

St. Faustina in her diary wrote, “Oh, if only the suffering soul knew how much God loves it, it would die of joy and excess of happiness! Someday, we will know the value of suffering, but then we will no longer be able to suffer. The present moment is ours.”

Reading the Gospel story about Bartimaeus and getting to know a little about St. Bernadette it seems to me that knowledge and intellect are not so important, what is important is our understanding, our faith, and how opened the eyes of our heart are to see God in all his glory. Many who are sick still go to Lourdes some come back cured and some don’t, through grace we must accept our sufferings offer them lovingly up to the Lord asking with faith and then true healing can take place.

When Jesus asked Bartimaeus “what do you want me to do for you?” Bartimaeus, answering with faith “Master, let me see again.” Jesus said to him, “Go, your faith has saved you.” And immediately his sight returned. Now, are we able to answer the same question with faith, hope and joy? When our healing takes place will we thank the Lord, or will we give the credit to our faith? Remember our faith is a gift, and if we choose to follow in the footsteps of Jesus like Bernadette be prepared to accept all your sufferings that come from the hand of God.

Mark 10:46-52

May God Bless Always, Women of Faith and Hope

Written and created by My Mother Rose. 

Giving Thanks Day 9.

 May God Bless Always, Women of Faith and Hope.

Written and created by My Mother Rose.

Giving Thanks Day 8.

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Giving Thanks Day 7

 May God Bless Always, Women of Faith and Hope.

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Giving Thanks Day 6

 May God Bless Always, Women of Faith and Hope.

Written and created by My Mother Rose.

Giving Thanks Day 4

 May God Bless Always, Women of Faith and Hope.

Written and created by My Mother Rose.