Love is a mutual self-giving which ends in self-recovery.
~Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen

My Best Days Are A Head Of Me

I'm a Catholic.  It's as much a part of me as I am a woman, mother, wife, daughter, sibling, friend, American with Polish ethnicity.  It is who I am.  I never could think of myself any other way.  Yes..there was an extended time in my life where I strayed away from the Church but I always considered myself a Catholic.  As I grew older... I felt the need... not to just consider myself a Catholic but I wanted to understand Catholicism.  Through out my life I've heard so much negativity about the Church.  I wanted to understand Her from it's beginning and this led me to snoop around to as early as the first century and learn about The Early Church Fathers.  The pieces of the puzzle finally started to fit together.  I've been inspired to persevere and to learn through the teaching of tradition, scripture, Catholic TV, Catholic Radio, movies, books, the saints and conversion stories.  I love conversion and reversion stories. They're about people that take it upon themselves to learn the truth.  Ultimately this leads them to Catholicism compared to those that don't take the time to learn about this rich, beautiful and ancient faith but are sure to have an opinion on it.  One of my favorite conversion stories is about a former Pentecostal Minister named Alex Jones and how he found his way to the Catholic Church. It would take a bold move for him to convert to Catholicism and he'd have a lot to lose. He could not resist his quest for truth though and the Church is now blessed to have him as a member, Evangelist and Deacon.  Below are videos of his conversion story... he describes ...through his reading of The Early Church Fathers how Catholic the early Church was.  The conversion story of Alex Jones is comprised of 5 videos so you can watch all or parts of his story at your convenience.  
As for me...this life of mine will not get any easier the older I get but seeking the truth will ensure my best days are a head of me.                                 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today is a holy day of obligation.  On Catholic radio I heard it referred to as a holy day of opportunity!

Today we have the opportunity to go to mass.  If you're uncertain of mass times... you can always go to www.masstimes.org

  

The Assumption

Sitting at the lake

Lake Ontario

We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature -- trees, flowers, grass -- grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence. We need silence to be able to touch souls.

~Mother Theresa

There are times when I need clarity.   During those times...I'll sit in an empty church.  In the still and tranquil quiet....I feel His presence and my load seems lighter.

Thomas Merton Prayer

  Feel free to to cut and paste and pray it yourself!

Thomas Merton's Prayer

MY LORD GOD, I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.
Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you.
And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.
And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.
I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.

- Thomas Merton, "Thoughts in Solitude"


Thomas Merton was one of the most influential Catholic authors of the 20th century. A Trappist monk of the Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani, in Kentucky, Merton was an acclaimed Catholic spiritual writer, poet, author and social activist. Merton wrote over 60 books, scores of essays and reviews, and is the ongoing subject of many biographies. Merton was also a proponent of inter-religious dialogue, engaging in spiritual dialogues with the Dalai Lama, Thich Nhat Hanh and D. T. Suzuki. His life and career were suddenly cut short at age 53, when he was electrocuted stepping out of his bath.

July 4th, 2012

Dear God,

Thank you for our armed forces and for those that have sacrificed or have given up their lives for our freedom.  We pray for our government leaders that they may uphold our religious freedoms....for these religious freedoms that we hold dear....
were the driving force in establishing this great nation of ours.
God bless the United States of America....a country of greatness.

Amen