Sunday Blessings

We know that in everything God works for good with those who love him, who are called according to his purpose.

Romans 8:28

Sunday Blessings

On that day, Jesus went out of the house and sat down by the sea.

Such large crowds gathered around him

that he got into a boat and sat down,

and the whole crowd stood along the shore.

And he spoke to them at length in parables, saying:

“A sower went out to sow.

And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path,

and birds came and ate it up.

Some fell on rocky ground, where it had little soil.

It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep,

and when the sun rose it was scorched,

and it withered for lack of roots.

Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it.

But some seed fell on rich soil, and produced fruit,

a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.

Whoever has ears ought to hear.”

The disciples approached him and said,

“Why do you speak to them in parables?”

He said to them in reply,

“Because knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven

has been granted to you, but to them it has not been granted.

To anyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich;

from anyone who has not, even what he has will be taken away.

This is why I speak to them in parables, because

they look but do not see and hear but do not listen or understand.

Isaiah’s prophecy is fulfilled in them, which says:

You shall indeed hear but not understand,

you shall indeed look but never see.

Gross is the heart of this people,

they will hardly hear with their ears,

they have closed their eyes,

lest they see with their eyes

and hear with their ears

and understand with their hearts and be converted,

and I heal them.

“But blessed are your eyes, because they see,

and your ears, because they hear.

Amen, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people

longed to see what you see but did not see it,

and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.

“Hear then the parable of the sower.

The seed sown on the path is the one

who hears the word of the kingdom without understanding it,

and the evil one comes and steals away

what was sown in his heart.

The seed sown on rocky ground

is the one who hears the word and receives it at once with joy.

but he has no root and lasts only for a time.

When some tribulation or persecution comes because of the word,

he immediately falls away.

The seed sown among thorns is the one who hears the word,

but then worldly anxiety and the lure of riches choke the word

and it bears no fruit.

But the seed sown on rich soil

is the one who hears the word and understands it,

who indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.”

Matthew 13:1-23

Sunday Blessings

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

Matthew 5:16

Sunday Blessings

Be assured that abuses are done away with by teaching rather than by commanding. If we make threats, let it be done sorrowfuly, in the words of Scripture, and in terms of the world to come. In this way it is not we who are feared because of our power, but God because of our words.
-- St Augustine

Sunday Blessings

" ...for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him. Pray then like this:

Our Father who art in heaven,

Hallowed be Thy name.

Thy kingdom come,

Thy will be done,

On earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread;

And forgive us our debts,

As we have also forgiven our debtors;

And lead us not into temptation,

But deliver us from evil."

Amen

Matthew 6:8-13

Sunday Blessings

Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!

Psalm 133:1

Sunday Blessings

And Peter opened his mouth and said: "Truly I perceive that God shows no partiality, but in every nation any one who fears Him and does what is right is acceptable to Him."

Acts 10:34-35

Sunday Blessings

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By His great mercy we have been born anew to a living hope...

1 Peter 1:3

Sunday Blessings

Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign: the virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel.

Isaiah 7:14

Sunday Blessings

You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.

James 5:8

Sunday Blessings

...If God is for us, who is against us?

Romans 8:31

~~~~

{So sorry this is late today}

Sunday Blessings

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

Psalm 27:1

Sunday Blessings

For God alone my soul waits in silence; from Him comes my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be greatly moved.

Psalm 62:1-2

Sunday Blessings

A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

Proverbs 15:1

Sunday Blessings

O how abundant is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for those who fear thee, and wrought for those who take refuge in thee, in the sight of the sons of men!

Psalm 31:19

I can do all things in Him who strengthens me

Philippians 4:13

Sunday Blessings

I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus,
who will judge the living and the dead,
and by his appearing and his kingly power:
proclaim the word;
be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient;
convince, reprimand, encourage through all patience and teaching.

2Timothy4:1-2

Sunday Blessings

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control; against such there is no law.

Galatians 5:22-23

~~~

My heart is so full of love and joy at this moment. Love for the good of mankind and joy in my heart because God chose to bestow two things upon me today. One of them was something I really wanted to do but had put out of my mind, because at the time, it just wasn't possible. The second thing was something completely unexpected. Something we never saw coming, but something that demonstrated so completely, the love of Christ. The good of mankind. The fruit of the Spirit. Let me tell you a story.

It all started about three or four weeks ago when I read in our church bulletin that a local priest would be visiting a nearby parish to say Mass and then after Mass he would judge a chili cook-off. Now, this wasn't just any priest, he happens to be Father Leo Patalinghug. You know, the Throwdown with Bobby Flay winner on the Food Network? Yeah, Bobby Flay challenged him to a fajita throwdown and Fr. Leo won! Anyway, besides being a great cook, he also happens to be a wonderful priest and I wanted to go to the Mass to see him. However, my husband was going to have to work that day and I just couldn't see taking all four of the kids by myself to what was going to be a VERY crowded Mass. I pouted for a day or two...yes, sadly I did. Shame on me. But then, I thought I better snap out of it. It just wasn't meant to be. I put it out of my mind and didn't think of it again. Fast forward to Saturday afternoon. Because of hubby's work schedule, we have to attend the Saturday afternoon Mass at the above mentioned church that is near our town. We get there pretty early so we're all sitting in the car in the parking lot enjoying the warm weather. The priest happens to be walking through the parking lot and stops at our car to chat for a few minutes. While we're talking, he mentions that there is going to be a guest priest saying Mass. "Who's saying Mass?" I ask. "Father Leo Patalinghug" he says. "GET OUT!! Really??" I say. I couldn't believe it. As it turns out, all along I thought he came last weekend. But actually, it was this weekend at the Saturday afternoon Mass. He was there and I was in attendance. This brings me to the other part of my story. Because the dinner after church was something that you needed to sign up for in advance, we didn't go to that. Instead we went to Cracker Barrel. As we were sitting outside in those infamous Cracker Barrel rocking chairs, waiting for our table, we started talking to a man and his wife. Their daughter and her date were there for their homecoming dinner and mom and dad came along too. (I thought that in this day and age, it was really nice that mom and dad came along to dinner to chaperone their 15 year old daughter and her date) Anyway, he was talking about how they have three girls and this daughter is their youngest. The others have left the nest and she is the last one at home. They were the nicest people and they really cherished their family. After awhile, their table was available and they left. Later on we were seated and our meal arrived and as we were happily finishing up our dinner, our waitress came over to our table. She told us that someone in the restaurant had paid for our family's meal. She also said that they tipped her so not to worry about that either. Can you imagine? My husband and I were speechless. We asked her to please thank whoever did this from the bottom of our hearts. She said she would and then she left our table. As it turns out, our waitress told us that it was the family we had been talking to. But by the time we knew that, they had already left. They had wanted to do this without us knowing that they had done it. How's that for the fruit of the Spirit? I only pray that God will give us an opportunity to return the favor to someone else and that somehow, the family that did this for us will know the depth of our gratitude. There is so much tremendous good in this world ~ sadly, we just don't hear about it as much. All in all, it was a fabulous day.

Thank you dear Lord, for the goodness you show us, the abundance of grace you provide and for hearing our prayers!

God Bless You All!!

xo,

Kathleen

Sunday Blessings

...when I found him whom my soul loves I held him, and would not let him go...

Song of Solomon 3:4

Sunday Blessings

We know that in everything God works for good with those who love him, who are called according to his purpose.

Romans 8:28