Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! What's your favorite scary story or poem? Here's one of mine:

Antigonish by Hughes Mearns

Yesterday, upon the stair,...
I met a man who wasn't there.
He wasn't there again today,
I wish, I wish he'd go away...

When I came home last night at three,
The man was waiting there for me
But when I looked around the hall,
I couldn't see him there at all!
Go away, go away, don't you come back any more!
Go away, go away, and please don't slam the door...

Last night I saw upon the stair,
A little man who wasn't there,
He wasn't there again today
Oh, how I wish he'd go away...


Be safe, dear reader, and have fun!

Feast of a "Blessed" Today

Chiara "Luce" Badano was an Italian teenager who courageously faced suffering as the "will of God" for her.  Throughout her illness, she never stopped loving Jesus or her family, friends, and other people that she encountered.  It's good to read about her life, and ask for her intercession.

(BTW, note that she did receive some morphine for the pain that she experienced; but, she refused increasing doses of morphine because they kept her from thinking clearly.  She developed her own special method of living in the present moment, which helped her through her physical pain.)

Blessed Chiara Luce, pray for us!

http://reallifecatholic.com/blog/blessed-chiara-luca-badano-pray-for-us

The Task Before Us

“Yours is the gigantic task of overcoming all evil with good, always trying amidst the problems of life to place your trust in God, knowing that his grace supplies strength to human weakness. You must oppose every form of hatred with the invincible power of Christ’s love.” -- St. Pope John Paul II

I'm going ahead with you to love with the love of Christ, dear reader.

Not Just for Young People

“Dear young people, let yourselves be taken over by the light of Christ, and spread that light wherever you are.” -- St. Pope John Paul II

Let's shine His light together, dear reader.

St. Luke, Evangelist

St. Luke was a doctor, devoted to treating the ill and easing the pain of the suffering, healing them if he could. Imagine him encountering Jesus' apostles, and seeing them heal people in Jesus' name without any sort of medicinal treatments. Wouldn't he have been astounded? No wonder he decided to follow Jesus, and then write about him. 
 

Think about your own doctor. He asks you questions and writes things down carefully in your chart, so that it will be accurate, and you can receive proper treatment. I imagine that in order to write his Gospel, Luke asked many questions of the Apostles and took care to write the correct information down about Jesus. His is the Gospel of Jesus' love and mercy, filled with many miracles and healings. But, the healings he describes are not limited to the physical. He also tells of healings of hearts and lives through Jesus' forgiveness, especially the cases of Zaccheus the tax collector, Peter's denial, and the repentant thief crucified beside Him.

Read a little bit of the Gospel of Luke today. Marvel at the details.

God's Immense Love

God thought of you, chose you to be His child, and loved you, even before He had created the foundations of the world. In the midst of the hundreds of billions of people who have existed on earth, God loved YOU and wanted YOU, even with all of your faults. He created you with a unique purpose, and He created you to enjoy eternity in Heaven with him. Spend some time thinking about this today. 

 This reflection is based upon Ephesians 1:1-10 and a meditation from The Word Among Us Press.