Author: Faith

The Stations of the Cross is celebrated by many churches at Easter.  But Mary, our Blessed Mother, did not create the Holy Way of the Cross (Stations of the Cross) to only be celebrated at Easter.  She created the Holy Way of the Cross to be celebrated outside, each morning and each evening.  If Catholic Tradition holds then Mary, our Blessed Mother, was the one to first create the Stations of the Cross and it seems only wise to do it as Mary did and build them outside so they are available for daily worship and meditation.

Covid, and possibly other diseases, may be problematic for a long time to come, but we need to stay connected to our churches, our community and to Jesus.  Creating an outdoor “Holy Way of the Cross” , as the Blessed Mother did, would help us to do all three!

Mary created the Holy Way of the Cross to give people the great gift of meditating on Christ’s Life.  Our Father created us to worship as a community.  And with so many not attending church because of Covid, this would give us all a safer way to worship and stay connected to our church. 

As the world darkens and the persecution of Christians increases, we will need to feel connected to Christ, to our Church and to our Community.  What better way than this?

Building outdoor Stations of the Cross can help the faithful stay faithful.  And creating outdoor spaces where we can gather together to worship and meditate of Christ Life-as well as Honor Mary at the same time can only help us in the coming days.

Keep The Faith-Jesus IS coming back ?

We all know the type of prayer we pray when we are in need.  And we all remember to pray when trouble comes.  But that is not the type of prayer needed to save our faith from the recent attacks we face.

We need Daily Prayer.  The kind of prayer that cries out to the Holy Spirit to please strengthen our faith and please Help us to pray!    The kind of prayer which the Holy Spirit turns into a river that flows through us and out to others, and helps us all ?.

There’s a song, “Just Give Me Jesus” by Unspoken.  “All I’ve been chasing, putting my faith in, let it fade…”Just give me Jesus!  There’s nothing I desire that can’t be found in you.  You’re everything that I ever needed.  Just give me Jesus”. I can’t imagine a better prayer ?

Then there is prayer to our Father, in Jesus’ Name.  And this is where Jesus and the Holy Spirit can really help us.  We hear things like “intimate prayer with our Father”,  but what is that?  It is simply talking with our Father who loves us.  It means talking and listening.  And it means resting all of the day’s worries in His Hands ?.

  Max Lucado writes: “Of all his names, Father is God’s favorite. We know he loves this name most because this is the one he used most. While on earth, Jesus called God “Father” over two hundred times. In his first recorded words Jesus explained, “Didn’t you know that I must be in my Father’s house?” (Luke 2:49). In his final triumphant prayer he proclaims, “Father, I give you my life” (Luke 23:46). In the Gospel of John alone, Jesus repeats this name 156 times. God loves to be called Father. After all, didn’t Jesus teach us to begin our prayer with the phrase, “Our Abba”?”-Max Lucado

Link to Max Lucado: Father

God loves us and He loves being our Father.  Yes, He knows everything, but He still wants us to tell Him about our day and to ask Him for Guidance and Help, both for ourselves and for others. 

Just as Jesus does. 

Just as the Holy Spirit does.

Daily Prayer protects and strengthens our faith.  We need to pray when we feel like it, and especially when we don’t.  And we need to pray every day, because we need God to protect our souls and hearts daily – and God will – if we ask Him too, in Jesus’ Name! ?

The saddest thing about September 11th is that we didn’t learn. Back then, as One Nation Under God, we knew where our Help would come from – God! And we were not ashamed to ask Him for it or Thank Him for it!

Many radio stations, not just Christian ones, played prayers and Christian songs. The Christian songs often had excerpts from President Bush’s speeches. And radio stations were proud to play them and people were grateful to hear them.

Neighbors reached out to neighbors and Churches were filled to overflowing. We were a kinder and gentler nation. Faith filled, it was the best and worst of times. The attack on America, that caused the death of so many brought out the very best of the American people!

We were, indeed, One Nation Under God 🙂

But we are not now. Anger and bitterness fills many areas of the country. Not only has our nation refused to turn to God, it has turned away from God.

An evil type of selfishness, the root of all sin, has taken root.

There is only one way to turn our country back to God, and back to the Great Country it once was. And that is prayer.

We need to pray daily. For faith, for courage, and for love for others, real love, to fill to fill our hearts. For only then can we have hope that we will be Restored 🙂

“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,”-2 Corinthians 10:3-5

“Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life.”-Proverbs 4:23

God has more than one reason for telling us this, but below are two.

One reason is that he knows that not controlling our thoughts can lead us straight into sin.  We often find ourselves thinking sinful thoughts and THEN we take sinful actions.  In other words, we often entertain temptation before we “give in” to temptation.  We may not always be able to control the first thought, but we can definitely control the second.

A second is that God also knows that not reigning in our thoughts can make us unhappy, and even angry.  Ever find yourself imagining telling someone who has truly wronged you exactly how you feel?  We’ve all done that at some time in our lives.  The problem is that the only person we are hurting is – us.  But we do have a choice.  We don’t have to have those “imaginary” conversations.  We can simply choose to do something else. 

It’s not always possible to control our first thought, but it is possible to stop our second thought.  Get up and get doing.  Help someone.  Spend time with a family member or friend.  Read a book. In other words, occupy your mind with something else.

And most important: Pray! Pray especially for the one who has wronged you and you will find your anger gradually ebb away and in its’ place will be compassion.  It may take a little time, but it always works ?

God’s Word gives us a Roadmap for our lives.  There are some people who think it’s a rule book that they do not wish to obey.  But it is more than that.  God created us, and so He knows what will make us truly happy.  And so He tells us the paths that will lead to happiness for us, and those that won’t.  We can follow His Son Jesus to Heaven  – or not.  It’s our choice!  Given to us by God Himself!