Love

Some people at my job have a picture of themselves meeting Pope John Paul II. Today, as I was dropping by another co-worker's office, I noticed her picture with JPII from about 19 years ago. I was in awe at how fortunate she was and she told me the story of how she met him. She was in a line of people from her charismatic group and he went to each person to greet them. He had an assistant with him who whispered to him the name of each person he was meeting. She recalled that she was a new Catholic and wasn't sure what to do; whether she was supposed to kiss his ring or anything like that. She stood there looking down and then the white figure of JPII appeared in the corner of her eye. She could see his shoes and immediately thought "hmmm...those are very nice shoes...I wonder if he has a special shopper for his shoes...." She couldn't believe she was thinking that as she was about to meet the Pope.

Then, my co-worker stood in front of me to demonstrate how JPII greeted her. She said that at the time she saw JPII, it was before he was shot and before he was in a wheelchair. It was about 10 years into his pontificate and he was not an aging, frail figure. He was a tall, powerful presence. So after the assistant whispered in his ear, my co-worker re-enacted the meeting by swooping up my hands with a loving smile, looking into my eyes and saying something like "My dear (co-worker's name), from (her hometown), God's blessing be upon you and your family!" I could almost see his eyes and hear his voice...her impression of him obviously was burned into her memory. Tears came to her eyes and I felt as if I was there. She said that she didn't know what to say after that. I completely understood.

I may not be well-traveled and I may never become as worldly as I once dreamed I would be...but the Lord always surprises me with these personal keepsakes of immeasurable value. God has blessed me with family and friends who share with me...who trust me with their thoughts and memories...and who will pray for me and ask me to pray for them. This, to me, is love the way God intended...the spiritual magnet between souls...the stuff money could never buy. May God's blessing be upon all of us and our families...

A question about scientists

One of my students asked if scientists didn't believe in God. Pedrito, my assistant, and I explained that there are high-level scientists, like Einstein, who understood that God exists. However, there are those scientists that do not believe in God or the the teachings of the Catholic Church.

Read article HERE.

Jesus was also shunned in His day, even when he saved a man from demons.

Mark
Chapter 5

1

¹ They came to the other side of the sea, to the territory of the Gerasenes.

2

When he got out of the boat, at once a man ² from the tombs who had an unclean spirit met him.

3

The man had been dwelling among the tombs, and no one could restrain him any longer, even with a chain.

4

In fact, he had frequently been bound with shackles and chains, but the chains had been pulled apart by him and the shackles smashed, and no one was strong enough to subdue him.

5

Night and day among the tombs and on the hillsides he was always crying out and bruising himself with stones.

6

Catching sight of Jesus from a distance, he ran up and prostrated himself before him,

7

crying out in a loud voice, "What have you to do with me, ³ Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me!"

8

(He had been saying to him, "Unclean spirit, come out of the man!")

9

⁴ He asked him, "What is your name?" He replied, "Legion is my name. There are many of us."

10

And he pleaded earnestly with him not to drive them away from that territory.

11

Now a large herd of swine ⁵ was feeding there on the hillside.

12

And they pleaded with him, "Send us into the swine. Let us enter them."

13

And he let them, and the unclean spirits came out and entered the swine. The herd of about two thousand rushed down a steep bank into the sea, where they were drowned.

14

The swineherds ran away and reported the incident in the town and throughout the countryside. And people came out to see what had happened.

15

As they approached Jesus, they caught sight of the man who had been possessed by Legion, sitting there clothed and in his right mind. And they were seized with fear.

16

Those who witnessed the incident explained to them what had happened to the possessed man and to the swine.

17

Then they began to beg him to leave their district.

Sad that people refuse to recognize or are just plain scared of the truth. If these people would accept that God does exist, then that means they would have to be accountable for their actions. They would have to be called to love God and love one another, go to Church, and care about heaven. A lot of college students just don't want to be bothered with that. And unfortunately, many ignorant professors feed on that. Bigotry against God and Christianity is one thing that is allowed to exist and it hasn't done this generation any favors.

Advent Calendar

I know this is a little late, but I found this ADVENT CALENDER on beliefnet. It's interactive and has some fun info, too!

50th Anniversary for Fr. Louis and Fr. Steven

Both Fr. Louis Solcia and Fr. Steven Grancini were ordained 50 years ago in Buffalo, NY, and celebrated their 50th Anniversary on Sunday. Arnold and I will know each other for 10 years next year...and I thought that was a lot!!!

Arnold, me, and Fr. Louis.
Me and Fr. Steven.
The Vatican, San Diego; Fr. Louis, Bishop Brom, Fr. Steven, and a couple of other Papas.

Merry Christmas!!!

My class did very well on the review quiz game on our last class before the year end. Also, I was able to pass out a lot of door prizes...note to self: my class likes snacks. I'll keep that in mind for the next quiz game in April.

I thought I'd share this article on Christmas in Britain...click HERE for the article.

Everyone, have a wonderful Christmas and God bless your New Year!!!

Feast Day of the Miraculous Medal

One of my students asked if I wished I had a bigger class (my class is only 5 students), and I told her that actually, I was glad that it was a small class...because it's the first one I'm teaching and I'm able to bring things for them. Last night, I was able to bring them Miraculous Medal packets, which included a Miraculous Medal prayer card, a paper explaining the Miraculous Medal story, and a sterling silver Miraculous Medal. I wouldn't be able to do that for a big class (well, not sterling silver, anyway). Just in time for the Feast Day, which is actually today, November 27.

Here's the story of the Miraculous Medal.

Bishop Martin from Nigeria

Fellow parishioners are in line to receive a blessing from Bishop Martin.



(I know, I'm wearing a Cherry Pop Tart t-shirt to church. I dress a little more casually for Saturday morning Mass than I do for Sunday. I say, as long as I'm covered up, I'm excused. Plus my name is Cherry...double excused.)

Saturday, Bishop Martin from Nigeria visited our church and served Mass and it was beeeyueteeful!!! We are so blessed in our church to have so many terrific guests. And as a Catholic, it is great to hear someone from the other side of the world celebrate Mass here. It reinforces my profound respect for the priesthood. The fact that the same Mass is celebrated throughout the world...and this celebration has been passed down for over 2000 years...humbles me greatly.

Us Catholics are constantly bombarded with the negative press of the scandals that have occurred in our Church. Not only that, people try to use that to justify changing the Church by altering the priesthood. For someone who can be hotheaded like me, my first reaction is to say "hey hey hey hey HEY! Leave my Church alone, will ya???" But I know that's not very charitable of me. I can be a hawk...I think that comes with being a mother. I want to protect my loved ones. And I love Jesus and His Church. And I know that some priests have not been faithful to their vows. But as Jesus says, "whoever is without sin, cast the first stone." Those who aren't faithful to their vows do not take away from the validity of the institution. That's like saying they should take away schools because teachers hit on teenagers. Or marriage because people cheat. Yes, those who have fallen should be punished and those they have affected should be healed...blah blah blah. But like the millions of teachers who do good work, and the millions of marriages that do well, there are still millions of priests who are faithful to their vows, who are strong men, and who do amazing work in their communities around the world. No one should be allowed to change them or take them away.

So, please help me pray...for our priests and for those who try to attack them.

"And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it." Jesus in Matthew 16:18

"Some are incapable of marriage because they were born so; some, because they were made so by others; some, because they have renounced marriage for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Whoever can accept this ought to accept it." Jesus in Matthew 19:12

"To the unmarried and the widows I say that it is well for them to remain single as I do. . . . I want you to be free from anxieties. The unmarried man is anxious about the affairs of the Lord, how to please the Lord; but the married man is anxious about worldly affairs, how to please his wife, and his interests are divided. And the unmarried woman or girl is anxious about the affairs of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit; but the married woman is anxious about worldly affairs, how to please her husband. I say this for your own benefit, not to lay any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and to secure your undivided devotion to the Lord. . . . he who marries his betrothed does well; and he who refrains from marriage will do better" St. Paul in 1 Cor. 7:8, 32-35, 38