Comfort during struggle

My last 3 weeks can be summed up by my husband's statement this afternoon, "I need to go back to work to get away from this stress."  Ouch!  I know he doesn't mean to be harsh or to hurt, but its true.  Our strong personalities combined into an even stronger personality in our child.  Who knew right?  Add to that 3 weeks of sickness, my husband getting it the worst when he came down with pneumonia.  He's been away from his high stress job for essentially 2 weeks and is feeling the pressure from every aspect of his life.  So I am choosing to view his words as simply his frustration.

We all go through periods in life often times repeated periods where stress gets to us.  So I am finding comfort in these words today:

Jesus said, "In this world you will have trouble.  But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:33

So today I'm taking heart and choosing to love my children and husband not for this world but the next!

Novena for Couples Trying to Conceive - Day 9

Novena to St. Anne,

the Mother of the Virgin Mary

Day 9

 

First, recite this prayer. 

Glorious St. Anne,

filled with compassion for those who invoke you,

with love for those who suffer,

heavily laden with the weight of my troubles,

I knee at your feet and humbly beg you

to take my present need under your special protection...

Catherine & Edgar Valles

Valerie & Sam Budnick

Janay & Toure Delaney
Teresa & Stuart Horton

Those wishing to remain anonymous

and all couples trying to conceive children.

Vouchsafe to recommend it to your daughter,

the Blessed Virgin Mary,

and lay it before the throne of Jesus.

Cease not to intercede for me until my request is granted.

Above all, obtain for me the grace to one day meet God face to face,

and with you and Mary and all the angels

and saints praising Him through all eternity.

Amen

Daily Prayer

Most holy mother of the Virgin Mary,

glorious Saint Anne, I, a miserable sinner,

confiding in your kindness,

choose you today as my special advocate.

I offer and consecrate my person

and all my interests to your care and maternal solicitude.

I hope To serve you and honor you all my life

for the love of your most holy daughter

and to do all in my power to spread devotion to you.

O my very good mother and advocate,

deign to accept me as your servant,

and to adopt me as you child.

O glorious Saint Anne, I beg you,

by the passion of my most loving Jesus,

the Son of Mary, your most holy daughter,

to assist me in all the necessities

both of my body and my soul.

Venerable Mother,

I beg you to obtain for me the favor I seek in this novena...

Catherine & Edgar Valles

Valerie & Sam Budnick

Janay & Toure Delaney

Those wishing to remain anonymous

and all couples trying to conceive children.

and the grace of leading a life perfectly conformable

in all things to the divine will.

I place my soul in your hands

and in those of your kind daughter.

I confide it to you,

above all at the moment

when it will be to separate itself from my body in order that,

appearing under your patronage before the Supreme Judge,

He may find it worthy of enjoying His Divine Presence

in your holy companionship in Heaven.

Amen.

Recite the...

Our Father...

Hail Mary...

Glory Be to the Father...

Pray for us, Saint Anne!

That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Novena for Couples Trying to Conceive - Day 8

Novena to St. Anne,

the Mother of the Virgin Mary

Day 8

First, recite this prayer. 

Glorious St. Anne,

filled with compassion for those who invoke you,

with love for those who suffer,

heavily laden with the weight of my troubles,

I knee at your feet and humbly beg you

to take my present need under your special protection...

Catherine & Edgar Valles

Valerie & Sam Budnick

Janay & Toure Delaney
Teresa & Stuart Horton

Those wishing to remain anonymous

and all couples trying to conceive children.

Vouchsafe to recommend it to your daughter,

the Blessed Virgin Mary,

and lay it before the throne of Jesus.

Cease not to intercede for me until my request is granted.

Above all, obtain for me the grace to one day meet God face to face,

and with you and Mary and all the angels

and saints praising Him through all eternity.

Amen

Daily Prayer

 

Remember, O Saint Anne,

you whose name signifies grace and mercy,

that never was it known

that anyone who fled to your protection,

implored your help,

and sought your intercession was left unaided.

Inspired with this confidence,

I fly unto you, good, and kind mother;

I take refuge at your feet,

burdened with the weight of my sins.

O holy mother of the Immaculate Virgin Mary,

despise not my petition...

Catherine & Edgar Valles

Valerie & Sam Budnick

Janay & Toure Delaney
Teresa & Stuart Horton

Those wishing to remain anonymous

and all couples trying to conceive children.

 

but hear me and grant my prayer.

Amen.

 

Recite the...

Our Father...

Hail Mary...

Glory Be to the Father...

Pray for us, Saint Anne!

That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Hitler and Mysterious Ways

This image was posted this morning by an Atheist friend of mine on Facebook.

As some of you know I have a very strong reaction to anything and everything Hitler related as I am a direct decedent of a concentration camp survivor.  So I felt incredibly compelled to address the questions.  Below is my response to him.  Now my friend and I have had many civil discussions regarding our beliefs so I know that he will appreciate my response.  I also feel as though this were perfect timing.  On the way home from my folks this weekend I listened to an audio referenced below.  It is a marvelous ~50min presentation.  I have found a link to it online if you have time to listen.

I must address the first question by relating to you the difference between Theists and Pantheists.  Pantheists believe that god is in everything and everything is god.  So all of the matter, people, and circumstances around us are god; both good and bad.  Theists on the contrary believe that God is an unseen, divine creator who has a will for all of the earth and the creatures in habiting it.  God is only good and is not present in evil (circumstances, behavior, or events).  All people are created in the likeness of God so each person has the capacity for good, yet many chose not to follow good but chose to follow evil.

Since what Hitler did was so evil, the first question is flawed in its very nature.  This is not to say that many God fearing individuals were not fooled by this evil man.  C.S. Lewis, in his “Screw Tape Letters” articulated that the devil’s greatest trick was convincing the human race that he did not exist.  And if he has convinced the world that pure evil does not exists, his plan could then be multiplied into God does not exist. 

The second question to me is the easiest to answer.  As a Christian I can say without “faith” we have history.  Peter Kreeft, in his audio lecture “7 Reasons to be Catholic” articulates this very well.  If Jesus’ bones were to show up in some tomb in Palestine, then archeology could absolutely dispel all of Christian teaching and history in an instant.  However, as he points out, his bones have not been found.   I’m sure there are many would love to find them and prove all of us Christians wrong, but they haven’t.   Kreeft also points out that there has been no scientific discovery to disprove any of Christianity.  There have been remarkable discoveries in the area of science and archeology, but none of them can pinpoint the “creator” element which many in the science (physics community in particular) have been trying to discover to disprove the idea of a Divine Creator. 

As for the third question, as with Abraham, I would if God commanded take my child to sacrifice.  I would do everything I possibly could to take their place instead.  Thankfully, as a Christian I believe that Christ’s sacrifice was sufficient for all of humanity and am confident I will not be asked to make that choice.  God himself made this sacrifice for us when his Son was crucified.

Please feel free to comment and let me know what you think.  Any additional input would be great to pass along to my friend. 

Novena for Couples Trying to Conceive - Day 7

Novena to St. Anne,

the Mother of the Virgin Mary

Day 7

First, recite this prayer. 

Glorious St. Anne,

filled with compassion for those who invoke you,

with love for those who suffer,

heavily laden with the weight of my troubles,

I knee at your feet and humbly beg you

to take my present need under your special protection...

Catherine & Edgar Valles

Valerie & Sam Budnick

Janay & Toure Delaney
Teresa & Stuart Horton

Those wishing to remain anonymous

and all couples trying to conceive children.

Vouchsafe to recommend it to your daughter,

the Blessed Virgin Mary,

and lay it before the throne of Jesus.

Cease not to intercede for me until my request is granted.

Above all, obtain for me the grace to one day meet God face to face,

and with you and Mary and all the angels

and saints praising Him through all eternity.

Amen

 

Daily Prayer

 

O Good Saint Anne,

so justly called the mother of the infirm,

the cure for those who suffer from disease,

look kindly upon the sick for whom I pray;

alleviate their sufferings;

cause them to sanctify their sufferings by patience

and complete submission to the divine will;

finally deign to obtain health for them

and with it the firm resolution to honor Jesus, Mary,

and yourself by the faithful performance of duties.

But, merciful Saint Anne,

I ask you above all for the salvation of my soul,

rather than bodily health,

for I am convinced that this fleeting life is given us

solely to assure us a better one.

Now, we cannot obtain that better life

without the help of God’s graces.

I earnestly beg them of you for the sick and for myself,

especially the petition for which I am making in this novena...

Catherine & Edgar Valles

Valerie & Sam Budnick

Janay & Toure Delaney
Teresa & Stuart Horton

Those wishing to remain anonymous

and all couples trying to conceive children.

through the merits of our Lord Jesus Christ,

through the intercession of His Immaculate Mother,

and through the efficacious and powerful mediation.

O glorious Saint Anne,

Amen.

Recite the...

Our Father...

Hail Mary...

Glory Be to the Father...

Pray for us, Saint Anne!

That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Novena for Couples Trying to Conceive - Day 6

Novena to St. Anne,

the Mother of the Virgin Mary

 

Day 6

First, recite this prayer. 

Glorious St. Anne,

filled with compassion for those who invoke you,

with love for those who suffer,

heavily laden with the weight of my troubles,

I knee at your feet and humbly beg you

to take my present need under your special protection...

Catherine & Edgar Valles

Valerie & Sam Budnick

Janay & Toure Delaney
Teresa & Stuart Horton

Those wishing to remain anonymous

and all couples trying to conceive children.

Vouchsafe to recommend it to your daughter,

the Blessed Virgin Mary,

and lay it before the throne of Jesus.

Cease not to intercede for me until my request is granted.

Above all, obtain for me the grace to one day meet God face to face,

and with you and Mary and all the angels

and saints praising Him through all eternity.

Amen

Daily Prayer

Glorious Saint Anne,

mother of the Mother of God,

I beg you to obtain through your powerful intercession

the pardon of my sins and the assistance I need in my troubles...

Catherine & Edgar Valles

Valerie & Sam Budnick

Janay & Toure Delaney
Teresa & Stuart Horton

Those wishing to remain anonymous

and all couples trying to conceive children.


What can I not hope for

if you deign to take me under your protection?

The Most High has been please to grant the prayers of sinners,

whenever you have been charitable enough to be their advocate.

Kneeling at your feet,

I beg you to help me in all spiritual and temporal dangers;

to guide me in the true path of Christian perfection,

and finally to obtain for me

the grace of ending my life with the death of the just,

so that I may contemplate face to face your beloved Jesus

and daughter Mary in your loving companionship throughout eternity.

Amen.

Recite the...

Our Father...

Hail Mary...

Glory Be to the Father...

Pray for us, Saint Anne!

That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.