Prayer For The Victims of a Hurricane

This prayer was originally written for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. But, it works for any hurricane. Hurricane Rita is heading our way. So, I thought to publish it on this blog:

O God, we remember when the disciples of Jesus were terrified after a long night on a turbulent sea.

When they cried for help, you stilled the sea and brought them to safety.

We ask now that you comfort and still the hearts of those suffering from the effects of Hurricane [ you name it].

We pray for those who have been displaced and who now must return to homes destroyed or damaged by the storm.

We pray for those who are attempting to offer help and relief to victims.

While we wonder why such devastation can occur, where lives and property can seem held so capriciously in the hand of what is uncontrollable, we know, O God, that you count every hair on our head and that our names are written on the palm of your hand.

Let your loving grace wash over those who must now face damaged lives, homes, and possessions.

Hold them close to yourself until they are sure of the security of your loving embrace.

Calm their hearts and still their souls, O God.

We ask this through your Son, Jesus, who said "For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them."

AMEN.

-- Author Unknown

if the hurricane hits our area, I may be offline for a while. So, I definitely need this prayer.
 

Could This Be True?

EXPATICA news reported:

WIESBADEN, GERMANY - Some 80 Catholic former priests ended a four-day meeting in Germany Monday by issuing an open letter to Pope Benedict XVI calling for an end to Rome's nine-century-old policy that forbids priests to marry.

"We want the practice of the married priest in the Eastern Church to be implemented in the Western Catholic Church," said conference spokesman Heinz-Juergen Vogels.
...
The International Federation of Married Catholic Priests, which met in the central German city of Wiesbaden, claim there are signs of flexibility from Rome.

The federation draws its optimism from a rumoured account of remarks by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger in summer 2004, well before his election as pope, when he was prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

He reportedly asked a delegation of U.S. bishops, "What would your people think about a re-introduction of the tradition of married priests?" The Americans were supposed to have been speechless for a moment with surprise.

According to the federation, this means that Benedict recognizes that priests were often married in the early church. A council of the church imposed the rule of celibacy in 1139, along with the requirement that clergy who marry abandon their priesthood.

Read more...

If this is true, then it brings good news for the priests who want to end this rule and for the ordinary Catholics like myself who appreciate the work done by good Catholic priests and don't mind the married ones.
 

Hands

My friend pebblepie forwarded the following inspirational words to me:

A basketball in my hands is worth about $19.
A basketball in Michael Jordan's hands is worth about $33 million.
It depends whose hands it's in.

A baseball in my hands is worth about $6.
A baseball in Mark McGuire's hands is worth $19 million.
It depends on whose hands it's in.

A tennis racket is useless in my hands.
A tennis racket in Venus Williams' hands is a championship winning.
It depends whose hands it's in.

A rod in my hands will keep away a wild animal.
A rod in Moses' hands will part the mighty sea.
It depends whose hands it's in.

A sling shot in my hands is a kid's toy.
A sling shot in David's hand is a mighty weapon.
It depends whose hands it's in.

Two fish and 5 loaves of bread in my hands is a couple of fish sandwiches.
Two fish and 5 loaves of bread in God's hands will feed thousands.
It depends whose hands it's in.

Nails in my hands might produce a birdhouse.
Nails in Jesus Christ's hands will produce salvation for the entire world.
It depends whose hands it's in.

As you see now it depends whose hands it's in.
So put your concerns, your worries, your fears, your hopes, your dreams, your families and your relationships in God's hands because...

It depends whose hands it's in.

Thank you my friend for the much needed words.
 

Children's Explanation of God

I received the following two stories by e-mail:

Written by Danny Dutton, age 8, from Chula Vista, California,
third grade homework assignment to Explain God.

"One of God's main jobs is making people. He makes them to replace the ones that die so there will be enough people to take care of things on earth.

He doesn't make grown-ups, just babies. I think because they are smaller and easier to make. That way, He doesn't have to take up His valuable time teaching them to talk and walk. He can just leave that to mothers and fathers.

God's second most important job is listening to prayers. An awful lot of this goes on, since some people, like preachers and things, pray at times besides bedtime. God doesn't have time to listen to the radio or TV because of this. Because He hears everything, there must be a terrible lot of noise in His ears, unless He has thought of a way to turn it off. God sees everything and hears everything and is everywhere which keeps Him pretty busy. So you shouldn't go wasting His time by going over your mom and dad's head asking for something they said you couldn't have.

Atheists are people who don't believe in God. I don't think there are any in Chula Vista. At least there aren't any who come to our church. Jesus is God's Son. He used to do all the hard work like walking on water and performing miracles and trying to teach the people who didn't want to learn about God. They finally got tired of Him preaching to them and they crucified Him. But He was good and kind like His Father and He told His Father that they didn't know what they were doing and to forgive them and God said OK.

His Dad (God) appreciated everything that He had done and all His hard work on earth so He told Him He didn't have to go out on the road anymore, He could stay in heaven. So He did.

And now He helps His Dad out by listening to prayers and seeing things which are important for God to take care of and which ones He can take care of Himself without having to bother God. Like a secretary only more important.

You can pray anytime you want and they are sure to hear you because they got it worked out so one of them is on duty all the times. You should always go to Church on Sunday because it makes God happy, and if there's anybody you want to make happy, it's God. Don't skip church to do something you think will be more fun like going to the beach. This is wrong! And, besides, the sun doesn't come out at the beach until noon anyway.

If you don't believe in God, besides being an atheist, you will be very lonely, because your parents can't go everywhere with you, like to camp, but God can. It is good to know He's around you when you're scared in the dark or when you can't swim very good and you get thrown into real deep water by big kids. But you shouldn't just always think of what God can do for you. I figure God put me here and He can take me back anytime He pleases.

The e-mail also included the following cute story:

Last week I took my children to a restaurant. My six-year-old son asked if he could say grace As we bowed our heads he said, "God is good, God is great. Thank you for the food, and I would even thank you more if Mom gets us ice cream for dessert. And Liberty and justice for all! Amen!"

Along with the laughter from the other customers nearby I heard a woman remark, "That's what's wrong with this country. Kids today don't even know how to pray Asking God for ice-cream!

Hearing this, my son burst into tears and asked me, "Did I do it wrong? Is God mad at me?"

As I held him and assured him that he had done a terrific job and God was certainly not mad at him, an elderly gentleman approached the table. He winked at my son and said, "I happen to know that God thought that was a great prayer. "Really?" my son asked. "Cross my heart," the man replied. Then in a theatrical whisper he added (indicating the woman whose remark had started this whole thing), "Too bad she never asks God for ice cream. A little ice cream is good for the soul sometimes."

Naturally, I bought my kids ice cream at the end of the meal. My son stared at his for a moment and then did something I will remember the rest of my life. He picked up his sundae and without a word, walked over and placed it in front of the woman. With a big smile he told her, "Here, this is for you. Ice cream is good for the soul sometimes; and my soul is good already."

I hope reading the above stories made you smile.
 

Disturbing News From Congo

News From Russia reported:

Angry villagers beat an Italian priest to death and abducted three nuns after their vehicle run over and killed a young girl in the north of the Republic of Congo, a government spokesman said Monday.

The accident occurred near the village of Onouengue, about 500 kilometers (300 miles) north of the capital Brazzaville on Monday, when the all-wheel-drive vehicle driven by Father Angelo Radelli ran over and killed a young girl, the AP reports.

"The priest came out of the vehicle to check on the girl and was attacked and beaten to death," Alain Akouala, the Republic of Congo's government spokesman told The Associated Press.

"One scared French nun and another Congolese fled. We have not been able to locate them," Akouala said.

Read more...

I can understand the villagers' anger. But, I don't understand them killing the priest and abducting the three nuns. That's very scary.
 

The Death of Innocents

I'm against the death penalty. In my opinion, it doesn't achieve much. If the person is guilty, then the death penalty wouldn't do much other than give him an easy ride to finish his life instead of spending years in prison reflecting on his crime(s). If an innocent person is sentenced to death, then we have an even bigger problem.

I very much enjoyed watching the movie, "Dead Man Walking."adapted from Sister Helen Prejean's book with the same title. It's actually one of my favorite movies of all times. I salute Sister Helen Prejean for her efforts to abolish the death penalty in America. You probably know that Sister Helen is from New Orleans. She's currently in Baton Rouge as reported by The Gainesville Sun:

Hurricane Katrina forced Sister Helen Prejean and about 60 other nuns to flee their New Orleans Mother House last week and relocate indefinitely to Baton Rouge.

But the catastrophe had an effect on something else to which the woman who has come to be known as "the Death-Penalty Nun" has devoted her life.

"Katrina put a moratorium on the death penalty in Louisiana for at least three years," Prejean, 66, said before her talk Wednesday night at Holy Faith Catholic Church in Gainesville.

She said court buildings in New Orleans were so badly damaged that judges, among other things, won't be reviewing death-penalty cases anytime soon. In effect, Katrina partly did in a day what Prejean has been working more than 20 years to accomplish - abolish the death penalty in the United States.

Read more...

That's probably true, but not for a very long time.

Last December, she published another book titled, "The Death of Innocents : An Eyewitness Account of Wrongful Executions."I haven't read the book yet. But, I intend to read it. I believe in her message, and I hope she succeeds in convincing our politicians to abolish the death penalty.
 

Mother Teresa and Hurricane Katrina

Sorry for the long absence. I couldn't blog for different reasons. The main reason is the tragedy of hurricane Katrina.

Two days ago, the world remembered Mother Teresa's 8th Death Anniversary. Katrina's evacuees made me wonder what would Mother Teresa do for them if she was still alive.

In her book, "Reaching Out In Love, Stories Told By Mother Teresa,"she wrote:

Giving and Receiving

No letter box is big enough to receive all the mail that the postman sometimes brings to the headquarters of the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta, so Mother Teresa decided to have a narrow rectangular opening made in the painted brown door at the entrance. The letters are collected in baskets and taken to the small office room on the first floor. Mother Teresa used to read all the letters addressed to her, and tried to reply to them herself, often in her own hand.

On one occasion, as she opened an envelope, three five-dollar bills fell out along with a note by a man who had been bedridden for twenty years. The only part of his body that he could move was his right hand, and his only companions were cigarettes which he enjoyed smoking now and again. The note said: 'I did not smoke for one week, and I send you this money.'

Mother was deeply touched. 'It must have been a terrible sacrifice for him. But see how beautiful it is, see how he shared. And with that money,' she said, 'I bought bread and I gave it to those who are hungry, with a joy on both sides. He was giving and the poor were receiving.'

No matter how little you can give to the people who lost their homes, jobs and loved ones because of hurricane Katrina, just give. If you can't give money, then make a nice meal and take it to a shelter near you. It will mean a lot to those people.