Articles For Heart Mind Soul

1) God was with us in our past . God is with us in our present . God will be with us in our future . 2) Pray to God to heal all our memories; past , present and future . 3) God knows our past and He loves us. God knows our present and He loves us. God knows our future and He loves us. 4) Pray to live and love in the present . Cherish the good memories of the past . Heal the bad memories of the past . Look forward to the future with hopeful expectation. 5) May God help us remember the past while living in the present in order to be prepared for the future . 6) We all receive a gift from God every day; that is why it is called The Present . 7) Our past does not define us and it does not determine our future , it has been an experience that gives us a particular expertise for God-given potential endeavors. 8) The future is not only in God’s Hands, it is also in the Most Loving Heart of God, so don’t worry about it. 9) Faith in action releases us from ...

Posted by Danielle Bean on December 30, 2010 1. Did I grow closer to God in the past year? How will I grow closer to God this year? 2. What is one new thing I will pray for this year? 3. What was my favorite moment from the past year? What can I do to make more moments like that one? 4. What is the one thing I will do in the coming year that will most benefit my family? 5. What is the most important decision I made last year or will make this year? 6. What new habit would I most like to adopt this year? 7. What is one new skill I would like to learn the coming year? 8. What was the most important book I read last year/want to read this year? 9. What are my talents and what will I do to better serve God and the Church with them in the coming year? 10. What is one thing that I regret in the past year and what can I do about it in the New Year?

VATICAN CITY, 29 DEC 2010 ( VIS ) - The Holy Father dedicated his Wednesday catechesis to St. Catherine of Bologna (1413-1463).  In her one written work, the "Treatise on the Seven Spiritual Weapons" Catherine teaches that to combat evil it is necessary: "(1) to be careful always to do good; (2) to believe that we can never achieve anything truly good by ourselves; (3) to trust in God and, for His love, never to fear the battle against evil, either in the world or in ourselves; (4) to meditate frequently on the events and words of Jesus' life, especially His passion and death; (5) to remember that we must die; (6) to keep the benefits of heaven firmly in our minds, (7) to be familiar with Holy Scripture, keeping it in our hearts to guide all our thoughts and actions". With her words and life", Benedict XVI concluded, "she strongly invites us always to allow ourselves to be guided by God, to do His will every day even if it does not always corre...

Whether there’s storms’ brewing or sunshine beaming all around us, we can always remain calm and cool on the inside. Whether there’s a sandstorm or a snowstorm, we can always choose to build sand castles or snow creations. It doesn’t matter whether it’s hot or cold outside; it only matters whether we’re hot or cold in our heart, mind and soul.

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God has your picture on His refrigerator door.

Surrendering is synonymous with quitting, weakness, and giving up. When someone is bigger or stronger; we surrender.  When we are down, defeated, and when we have lost all hope; we surrender. It’s not an easy thing to do. No one wants to do it. We want to be in control. We want to do it our way. We want things to go our way. We want to call the shots. We really do not know how to surrender. We find that our greatest moments of strength come when we surrender to God. Surrender not because we are good, but because God is good. Steve Angrisano and Sarah Hart write in their song “Sweet Redeemer”: Lyrics King of Kings, blessed Jesus, hand of mercy, giver of grace; I have come to sing glory, to lay my heart before you in this place. Refrain Sweet redeemer, I surrender all I am to you. Sweet redeemer, I surrender all I am to you. I was lost and you found me; in the darkness, you were my light. When I fell down, you forgave me, lifted me up and held me to your side. ...

38th Annual March for Life in Washington D.C. on Jan 24, 2011 EWTN   Doug Keck and Fr. Joseph Mary with host live event

7th Annual West Coast Walk for Life in San Francisco on Jan 22, 2011 EWTN Life on the Rock Fr. Mark and Doug Barry will host live event

January 22: San Francisco, CA West Coast Walk for Life January 24: Washington, DC March for Life March 13: Los Angeles March for Life ( www.lamarchforlife.org ) March 26: Divine Mercy Conference, Cardinal Spellman High School, Bronx, NY March 27: Walk for Life , Rose Bowl, Pasadena, CA March 31: National Mass for Terri's Day in Ave Maria, FL May 18-21: Heartbeat International Conference , Columbus, OH June 23 - 25: National Right to Life Committee Convention , Jacksonville, FL October 18: Pro-Life Day of Silent Solidarity

While it is easy to get lost in the nightmare of what happened to the Innocents, it's to be remembered that they ultimately triumphed! They are Saints of God, as this painting by William Holman Hunt shows. The Innocents are seen with the Holy Family, in spirit, during the Family's Flight to Egypt:   Let us pray for our present day Herod's and our present day Innocents!

The word “weeds” has the word “seed” in it. See we sew dew. A play on words is to play with words . There are so many words that we do not even know about, that we have never seen, that we have never heard. To expand our horizons is to expand our vocabulary. We communicate with words and we hit or miss communicate with words . It is not the words that communicate or hit or miss communicate, it is the sender and the receiver of those words that interprets or misinterprets their meaning. May God bless the words we send and the words we receive. The power of one word , the power of one sentence; it can save a life or it can destroy a life. May we speak words of faith, hope and love and may we hear words of faith, hope and love.

May we experience encountering Christ everyday of our life.

Written by Priests for Life Pastoral Associate Jim Pinto: Heavenly Father, I embrace your grace this day, So that I might not: Think of another, Speak to another or Touch another, without first looking for Your Face in the other. I ask all this through Jesus Christ: God Incarnate, God with Skin, God made Poor, God with a Face. Amen!

Father Moreno recalled the chaos and fear that ensued when he was a boy in Carlsbad, New Mexico during the time of the flood. The flood waters were rising; everyone was shouting, “Get out! Get out!”, his mother was gathering all her children like a mother hen, the National Guardsmen were telling everyone they had to get out now. Father Moreno told us he always speaks about his mother because his father died when he was two (2) years old. All of a sudden he remembered his monkey, the kind made out of socks, so he turned around and started going toward the house but his mother pulled him back and he never saw his monkey again. They were fleeing the destruction of the flood waters; likewise Joseph, Mary and Jesus were fleeing from the impending destruction of Herod. An Angel told Joseph in a dream to flee because Herod wanted to kill Jesus. The Holy Family was obedient to God; likewise all families must be obedient to God. Joseph was obedient because he was a righteous man, ...

Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, pray for us.

God sends angels as messengers to lead us, to guide us and to direct us in the way we ought to go. May we listen to those good angels inviting us to do good things and may we not listen to the enemy inviting us to do bad things. Bring to our mind our sins, those areas where we have offended God and where we need the grace to do not just better, but for God to do the very best. May we not to give in to excuses, not give in to justifications, and not give in to rationalizations. Pray for the grace to just do it, to say “YES” to God and “NO” to the enemy of our heart, mind and soul.

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VATICAN CITY, 23 DEC 2010 ( VIS ) The websites of Vatican Radio ( http://www.radiovaticana.org/ ) and of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications ( http://www.pccs.va/ ), as well as the website http://www.pope2you.net/ ,  in close collaboration with the Vatican Television Centre (CTV) and through an agreement with Telecom Italia, will be offering a new service for the Christmas holiday period: live coverage of the liturgical celebrations presided by the Holy Father. The Pope's celebrations - Midnight Mass on 24 December, his Christmas Message and "Urbi et Orbi" blessing at midday on 25 December, and Mass for the World Day of Peace on 1 January - will be transmitted in live audio/video linkup with commentary in six languages: Italian, French, English, German, Spanish and Portuguese. The Midnight Mass will also have commentary in Chinese, and the Mass of 1 January in Arabic. The service has been made possible thanks to Telecom Italia's technology platform ...

Christmas - not just a season Christmas - a way of life

Pray for the grace to defeat all attacks from the enemy. Attacks will come but with the grace of God we can and will defend ourselves against those attacks. God bless our Advent preparation for Christmas, for Christ coming into our heart, mind and soul to fill us with His Faith, Hope and Love and with all the blessings and graces we will need to win this war so that our heart, mind and soul can belong only to Our Savior born on Christmas Day and born every day into our heart, mind and soul. All we have to say is, “Come Lord Jesus, Come into our heart and make our heart like Yours, Come into our mind and make our mind like Yours, Come into our soul and make our soul like Yours, Come into our life and make our life like Yours.”

Access: Grassroots Films - The Human Experience

There is a Christmas because of Christ's Birth.

Access website: Word on Fire by Father Robert Barron

Every day that God has made is a good day. Good in the sense that it is God’s Perfect Day in that it is just what God ordered. He has His Reasons, He is the Creator and we are his creatures, He is the Infinite Mind we are the finite minds. It’s a good day, a very good day when we are alive. Life is a blessing, a miracle from God, to live another day.

Don’t let things crowd out Christ in Christmas.

Confession: Prescription for the soul for optimal spiritual health.  

God sends us many graces, sometimes they are in the form of an inner voice that softly whispers, "Repent! Go to confession!" We go to Confession, our sins are forgiven, we are reconciled to God, and we have supernatural life again. Or we might say to ourselves, "Maybe another time," and that particular supernatural impulse, that gratuitous grace, passes us by. But another grace, another inspiration, is always on the way, God never abandons us. Once we have supernatural life, once sanctifying grace is in our soul, we can increase it by every supernaturally good action we do: receiving Communion, saying prayers, performing the works of mercy. It is easy to fall from grace, as we know. The more solidly we respond to sanctifying grace, the more likely we can withstand temptations. We must continuously work at maintaining sanctifying grace. Once we achieve the supernatural life, we must continually seek God’s grace, continually respond to the graces God i...

There are Christmas lights because Christ is The Light.

Christmas is a special time for Miracles to happen.

Like Saint Joseph was caught up in chaos and confusion and was deeply troubled when he became aware that his bride-to-be Mary was with child and they had not had sexual relations; so are we sometimes caught up in chaos and confusion and deeply troubled. Like Angels came to Saint Joseph in his dreams to tell him not to be afraid; so Angels sometimes come to us in our dreams to tell us not to be afraid, and some Angels come in disguise and not only in our dreams. We are not to make decisions in fear. John Paul II’s first words as Pope: “Do not be afraid.” Advent: a time of anticipation, a time of longing for the Second Coming – Judgment Day, a time to celebrate His Presence among us. There is no reason for us to fear, for God is with us; that is what Emmanuel means, “God with us.”  The Angel told Saint Joseph to Name his Son Emmanuel. We are to act not in fear but in faith. We are to be open to the voice of God in the midst of our chaos and confusion and when we are d...

Keep Christ in Christmas Jesus the Reason for the Season

Join Catholic Digest as we journey through the Advent season

Words carry weight; either the weight of torture or the weight of treasure.

Have we been trying this Advent season to ask God what He wants us to do, but are we finding ourselves still not asking Him about everything. Remember all it takes is just a simple question, “God, what do You want me to do?” or “Jesus tell me what to do?” or a request, “Jesus help me.”

 On December 17, 2010 the Vatican turned the lights on for the first time on the Christmas tree located in St. Peter's Square.

by Kristan Hawkins LifeNews.com 12/17/10 The greatest gift for Christmas is something our nation cannot buy and Americans cannot vote on. The biggest gift for Christmas this year is the emergence of the pro-life generation. The generation of young people committed to ending abortion in their lifetime. As recent polls have shown, the youth of America are pro-life. Each year at the March for Life, hundreds of thousands of pro-life youth gather to take a stand in Washington, D.C. for the preborn and their mothers. This Christmas, America will receive a gift of hope, real hope. Hope for the next generation of Americans, and hope for the future of America. 

There are people throughout the world living under threats of aggression, hostilities and violence. Close to home, right at our own back yard - in the country of Mexico, how those people must be stressed and traumatized; fearful, frightened, and their bodies constantly in fight or flee mode. This is the Christmas season with peace on earth and good will toward men, yet threats of violence ring louder than the songs of good cheer. We are a violent people living in a violent world. Pray that we become a peaceful people living in a peaceful world. Let us pray that God may transform troubled, tormented, and tumultuous lives by giving the Christmas presents of Christ’s Joy, Christ’s Love and Christ’s Peace. Peace starts in every heart, every mind and every soul and moves out to each and every heart, every mind and every soul that is touched with the transforming tenderness and tranquility of the Christ Child.

Do you ever wonder why God has made it so that there are these particular people in our life, the people who surround us and the people we come in contact with throughout our life? Why these particular people and what are we supposed to learn or teach from these experiences? These are questions worth pondering. The emails we receive, the phone calls we receive, the websites we visit, the things we do, the things we think, the things we say, the things we feel, the things we hear, the things we see, the things we dream, the things we read, the things we write. . . .

Feliz Navidad plays while pictures depicting the Mexican tradition of Las Posadas flash on the screen. Las Posadas (Spanish for "the inns") is a nine-day celebration with origins in Spain beginning December 16 and ending December 24. It is a yearly tradition for many Catholic Mexicans and some other Latin Americans and symbolizes the trials which Mary and Joseph endured before finding a place to stay where Jesus could be born.

VATICAN CITY, DEC. 14, 2010 ( Zenit.org ) The president of the Vatican's media council is inviting social communicators to take this time of Advent to be silent. Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli, president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, said this in a message to communicators of Latin America on the occasion of last Sunday's feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. An encounter with the Lord is multi-faceted, Archbishop Celli proposed: It is both personal and communal, arising both in solitude and in the liturgy and family "I invite you to live moments of silence during these days of Advent, to hear Jesus' voice who speaks to our heart. Holding Mary's hand, let us meet with him without haste, as he always awaits us!" "Silence," he said, "is like a blank screen on which we can project the film of our daily life to see it clearly. If we project it on a wall full of pictures, books and objects, with a background of noise, we wi...

A life lived with a glass that has water is always a life that is full, whether the glass is full of water or the glass is half filled, there is still fresh water to drink. How many do not have water to quench their thirst? How many are dehydrated? I realize and recognize that I am so fortunate for so many things that will forever remain unsaid, unspoken, unwritten; but the heart knows what they are, and God knows the human heart. A drop of water is not just a drop of water; it is life giving and life sustaining liquid. We all thirst; we thirst for all our dryness to be refreshed, for all our droughts to be replenished, for all our desiccations to be restored.

Dear Area Coordinators, I want to share with you some statistics to remind you of the importance of your work in spreading the word about EWTN. The following is a recent survey on the significance of the Catholic media’s impact on parish life. Your work as a Media Missionary is most important to the life of each and every parish. Thank you for all that you do! I hope that you have a blessed Advent and a Merry Christmas! Impact of Catholic Media on Parish Life: * 94% are more spiritually engaged and inspired * 69% are better able to teach their children the truths of our Faith * 31% have come back to the Church because of Catholic programming * 47% attend Mass more frequently * 51% are more involved with, and more generous to, their local parish * 12% had their marriages saved * 83% state that they have learned a great deal about their Catholic faith God Bless, Gus Federle Manager of Volunteer Support EWTN Global Catholic Network (205) 795-5771 http://www...

Let us be open and look for creative and constructive ways to communicate with the people in our life.

Have we tried to think about God more this Advent season? Have we tried to be more careful, more thoughtful, and kinder with our words? Tried is the operative word because it is so difficult, it is such a challenge, it is so very, very hard, because it is so very, very easy to blurt out without thinking and just say what comes as an automatic response. May God bless our words and may our words be a blessing to others. Always and in everything turn the negative into the positive, turn the bad into the good, turn the wrong into the right, turn the destructive into the constructive, turn the pessimistic into the optimistic, turn the downbeat into the upbeat, turn the harmful into the helpful, turn the discouraging into the encouraging, turn the inferior into the superior, turn the lackluster into the luminous, turn the mediocre into the magnificent, turn the empty page into the full page.

Monday, December 13, 2010 Rosa Delgado www.delrionewsherald.com Making the traditional annual march to honor "Our Lady of Guadalupe" were these parishioners who walked from the Guadalupe Center, 600 E. Adobe St., turning right on East Garza and then on West Garza to Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church, 500 W. Garza St., where special ceremonies were held to honor her on her day. December 12 is the day her image is supposed to have appeared on the cloak of a peasant, Juan Diego, before whom she had appeared three days before. Many Mexican singers/artists have penned songs in her name or have sang these songs in her name at various churches in Mexico and the U.S.