I can’t believe it’s Friday again, this week really went by fast for me! Happy weekend everyone! Enjoy it and have a great Superbowl Sunday…Go…??? Steelers? Packers? I am picking the Pittsburgh Steelers! Update, not rooting for the Steelers. My dad says you can not be a true Cleveland Browns fan and root for Pittsburgh. Guess that settles that. Don’t want to be kicked out of the family! And as always, thanks for reading my blog! -Michelle
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The other night I was getting something for my mom out of her nightstand and saw her stack of holy cards. I pulled them out and saw one I’d never seen before. On the front was a picture of Jesus, His hands raised so you could see his wounds. His Sacred Heart was exposed. On the back was this beautiful prayer and thought I’d share it with you. It has now become part of my nightly prayer routine.
Healing Prayer at Bedtime: “Lord Jesus, through the power of the Holy Spirit, go back into my memory as I sleep. Every hurt that has ever been done to me, heal that hurt. Every hurt that I have ever caused another person, heal that hurt. All the relationships that have been damaged in my whole life that I am not aware of, heal those relationships. But, Lord, if there is anything that I need 
to do, if I need to go to a person because he or she is still suffering from my hand, bring to my awareness that person. I choose to forgive, and I ask to be forgiven. Remove whatever bitterness may be in my heart, Lord, and fill the empty spaces with your love. AMEN!
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When my mom was so very sick almost 2 years ago Easter time, she was in the hospital for 15 days. During that trying and scary time a very special man came to visit her several times to give her Communion. He prayed with us, comforted us and just listened. On Saturday, he is being ordained to the Deaconate! We are so excited for both Deacon Bill and Meg! We can’t wait to celebrate with you and hear you preach your first sermon! Bill, you are a man after God’s heart!
“Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” John 6:68.
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I had pretty much put the Obama speech at the memorial service in Tucson to bed. I really hadn’t thought about it recently – Prior to the speech I decided that I was going to have a spirit of open mindedness about him and not automatically dislike what he says or does based on how I feel about him and the wall I have up with regards to him. I put on my Facebook status that night that I thought he did a good job on that speech. The discussion on my status update was interesting and people had plenty to say…most thought that the speech was decent but the atmosphere was more of a pep rally. People disliked the clapping and hooting and chanting. It was not suitable for a memorial service. I agreed. It is no secret that I’m not an Obama fan. I think he’s the most liberal president we’ve ever had. I know you can tell by my blog that I am definitely not liberal. I found myself being very closed minded about him and I wanted to change that. Give him a chance…but something didn’t sit right with me about the speech, I was left feeling empty even though the words he said were great. When you say things that really don’t match up to your character, it really confuses people. They don’t know whether or not to believe you or just chalk it up to “saying what people want to hear.” I read my daily email from Catholic News Agency last night and one of the articles was entitled: “THE PRESIDENT’S SPEECH; WHY I WASN’T IMPRESSED” by Bishop Tobin. I’m linking you to it here. It explains my feelings exactly.
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I am a huge fan of Mother Angelica. I believe that she will be a great Saint one day. I listen to her “Live with Mother Angelica” podcasts a lot and just love her wit, insight and honesty. These podcasts are classics, she doesn’t have her show any longer but it’s so awesome we can listen to them from years ago! I have never been to the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament before and now that I have a best friend living in Alabama I’m going to go and drag her to Hanceville with me! Deva, be prepared for a road trip to the convent and shrine soon! Check out their blog entitled Image and Likeness! NUN BLOG
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I’ve always been a lover of funny “NUN” pictures…like the one with the shotguns I used for this blog entry. I’m not sure where this one came from but it is in my “gallery of pictures.” Hope it makes you chuckle and brightens your day! Absolutely cracks me up! *This is a joke people. Please don’t comment that I’m being disrespectful or sacrilegious. 
Gotta have some fun don’t you?
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My Pastor Rocks. He REALLY does. He’s the most awesome homily preacher I know. Some people give him a bad wrap because he’s so passionate and his homilies don’t last the “acceptable” 10 minutes for our Catholic “old school” brethren. He knows he preaches a long time but he just can’t help himself and he pretty much doesn’t care. He has a lot to say and he lets the Holy Spirit speak through him. I love that he knows he does this, but he doesn’t change what he’s doing. That sounds strange but we need more than just a 10 minute “quickie.” So many churches have boring homilies. People complain about it all the time. Some even leave the church because of it. Ours are never boring. They’re vibrant, emotional, there’s some yelling, some tears and I swear I’ve even seen Father close to levitating! He delivers the goods every single Sunday. Check him out HERE. Last Sunday after he was done, someone stood up and yelled “Thank you for preaching the truth Father Jack!” Then the whole congregation erupted in applause. That does not happen at my church. Unfortunately that sermon has not been uploaded yet to the site. But, be on the look out for Fr. Jack’s homily for Sunday January 30, 2011. I’m sure it will be available soon!
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GO FISH FRIDAY: Why do Catholics go to Confession? Here is a 2 minute apologetics by John Martignoni, president of the Bible Christian Society. www.biblechristiansociety.com
“Receive the Holy Spirit. For those whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven; for those whose sins you retain, they are retained” (John 20:22-23).
