Category: Prayer

Staying With God

God never forsakes us; we forsake Him. We get so caught up in our concerns and anxieties that we sometimes forget to open our eyes and hearts to His presence. We become self-absorbed.

When this happens, we allow ourselves to fall into habits and behaviors that we know are not the best for us. Very quickly other things/people can become our god, and we slip into a of shadow of our true self. This is the place where all the things we want to keep hidden about ourselves exist. Lives and marriages are lost here.

Catholic Church Inspiration Prayer Spirit

Te Deum

Since the 4th century, the Te Deum (Thee O God, We Praise) has been sung by the Christian Church on special occasions. Tradition has it that this wonderful hymn of praise is sung on the last day of the year. I can’t think of a better way to finish up this first year of Making All Things New.

No matter what kind of year you’ve had, there’s plenty to thank God for.

Catholic Church Inspiration Italy Prayer

A Christmas Prayer

The Nativity by Fra Angelico

You Come Down from the Stars
St. Alphonsus Ligouri

You come down from the stars
Oh King of Heavens,
And you come in a cave
In the cold, in the frost.
And you come in a cave
In the cold, in the frost.

Oh my Divine Baby
I see you trembling here,
Oh Blessed God,
Ah, how much it cost you,
Your loving me.
Ah, how much it cost you,
Your loving me.

For you, who are of all the world
The creator,
No robes and fire,
Oh my Lord.
No robes and fire,
Oh my Lord.

Dear chosen one, little infant
This dire poverty,
Makes me love you more
Since Love made you
Poor now.
Since Love made you
Poor now.

Merry Christmas! I found myself on a quest this morning. I wanted to find the English translation to the great Italian Christmas carol, Tu scendi dalle Stella, written by St. Alphonsus Ligouri in the summer of 1755.

The song has been the most popular Christmas carol in Italy for centuries. Giuseppe Verdi is to have said, Christmas without Tu Scendi dalle Stella is not Christmas.

Continue reading “A Christmas Prayer”

Prayer

Merry Christmas

Wishing you and yours a very blessed Christmas.

Catholic Church Inspiration Prayer

What Is It For You?

The only time I read USA Today is when I get it free at a hotel. Probably like you, I get my news from the websites I check each day.

It’s interesting, though, that whenever I do get this paper, I’m impressed that I can always find articles that are interesting and relevant to me.

Monday’s edition (12/20/10) had an article about a recent survey done to find out how people view Christmas. The survey, conducted by LifeWay Research, said nine out of ten Americans celebrate the holiday, no matter if they are Christian, Atheist, Jewish or Muslim.

It seems as though most skip the religious side of this holiday, however, and instead focus on family and friends. Only 37% said that Christmas was a time to focus on Jesus/God.

Of those in the 18-29 age range, more than half (56%) say their Christmas is primarily religious, but three in four (74%) told LifeWay (the group conducting the survey) that the things they enjoy most about the Christmas season “have nothing to do with the birth of Jesus.”

Prayer

A Heavy Price

I just got home from a little vacation in Gulfport, Mississippi. It was a short trip, but it was nice to be somewhere warm. Today’s high was 70, and I came home to a brisk 30 degrees, with snow predicted by the weekend. Now I know why people move south 🙂

I had to change planes in Atlanta 🙁 not my favorite airport. My connecting flight always seems to be on the other end of this huge airport, and it takes forever to get to where I need to go. Well, not forever, but it sure seemed like it.

As we were waiting to board our flight, I noticed a man in an Air Force uniform standing by the window. What drew my attention was seeing the flight crew go up and speak to him. He seemed older, but I figured he was probably just coming back from some time in either Iraq or Afghanistan. We watched him board the plane with the crew. Maybe he was a pilot.

Inspiration Prayer Spirit

Peace On Earth

There’s a lot of Christmas Cards being mailed about now with the words Peace on Earth printed on them. I got one today, and it got me thinking. If there ever was a time when we really needed peace on earth, now would be it.

It’s such a lofty dream. Can it ever happen? We have to believe that it can. You remember the expression, With God, all things are possible, don’t you?

Catholic Church Inspiration Mind Prayer

Mary’s Yes

In the Catholic tradition, today is a special Feast Day of Mary, the mother of Jesus. Whenever one of these feast days rolls around, I’m always reminded of the simple yes Mary said to the Angel Gabriel (Luke 1:26-38), and how her submission to God changed the world.

Have you ever considered the fact that Mary had to say her yes in order for Jesus to be born? God never forces things upon us, instead He always gives us choices. If not, we’d be more like robots than humans.

Ignatian Spirituality Inspiration Prayer Spirit

A Thoughtful Message

This past summer, one of my former staff members got married. Being a bit older, they have plenty of things already, and I was really struggling with what gift to give them. Then I remembered a friend telling me about an organization called Charity Water, which works to bring clean drinking water to people in Africa.

I went to their website and found out that for a $40 donation, two people would be able to drink clean water for 20 years. That’s right. It’s hard to believe, but for $10 billion dollars, we could eliminate this health crisis which kills more people in the world than all forms of violence combined. Americans spend about $450 billion on Christmas gifts each year.

Ignatian Spirituality Inspiration Prayer

Deck The Halls

We had our first snow flurries today. Not much, and not for long, but a sure sign of things to come. Our cold weather prompted me to start breaking out the Christmas decorations.

This is way early for me, especially because I’m not expecting any company for the next couple of weeks.

Maybe it was the comment from my friend Will, the new dad 🙂 about how much he loves the Christmas Season.

Maybe it was my co-worker Jordan reminding me that this will be her son Brendan’s first Christmas 🙂

Whatever it was, something’s different. I usually like to hold on to Advent for as long as I can, since it sets the stage for a more Christ-centered celebration on the 25th.