33°F N@3mph SR0650 SS1642

Morning Offering given

Jesus let me live for you
Jesus let me die for you
Jesus I am thine in life and in death

St Andrew of Avellino embodies compassion in his gentle pastoral ministering. Holy Spirit, embolden me to demonstrate understanding and compassion for those in need.

Scripture Reading, Day 10 of A Heart of Thanksgiving
Psalm 106:1-2 Hallelujah! Give thanks to the LORD, who is good, whose mercy endures forever.^a 2 Who can recount the mighty deeds of the LORD, proclaim in full God’s praise?
Titus 2:11 ^* For the grace of God has appeared, saving all^e

Morning! beautiful one even though it started at 0300 with an emergency run to La Crosse. I’m home now and getting ready to begin my regular Tuesday. I will be on French Island this morning.

Know you are prayed for.

30°F NE@.7mph SR0649 SS1643

Morning Offering given

God of grace, in the story of creation,
you made the earth a garden
and entrusted it to us to till and to keep.
A place of peace and beauty
where we could walk with you.
In the story of redemption,
the one who died for us was buried in a garden,
and there you raised him up
to greet us with new hope and risen life.
In the story of the Church
you tend us as a garden,
a place of careful pruning and abundant harvest,
where we can work with you.
Meet us, we pray
in all the gardens where we go
for nourishment, refreshment and prayer,
through Jesus Christ our Lord
Amen

St. Elizabeth of the Trinity demonstrates great faith in her dyiing words, “I am going to the light, to love, to life.” Lord, comfort me with the knowledge that you are waiting for us all and at death will reunite me with those I love.

Today’s Scripture reading Romans 13:1-7
1 Let every person be subordinate to the higher authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been established by God.^a
2 Therefore, whoever resists authority opposes what God has appointed, and those who oppose it will bring judgment upon themselves.
3 For rulers are not a cause of fear to good conduct, but to evil.^b Do you wish to have no fear of authority? Then do what is good and you will receive approval from it,
4 for it is a servant of God for your good. But if you do evil, be afraid, for it does not bear the sword without purpose; it is the servant of God to inflict wrath on the evildoer.^c
5 Therefore, it is necessary to be subject not only because of the wrath but also because of conscience.^d
6 This is why you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, devoting themselves to this very thing.
7 Pay to all their dues, taxes to whom taxes are due, toll to whom toll is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due.^e

Interesting ponder today…
Noah’s Ark held 8 people; Noah & Emzara (Naamah), Shem & Sedeqetelebab, Ham & Ne’elatama’uk, Japheth & Adataneses. There are 8 blood types in today’s world A Neg (universal platelet type) & Pos (2nd largest); B Neg (rare) & Pos (important for disorders); AB Neg (rarest) & Pos (universal recipient); O Neg (universal donor) & Pos (most common). Just a little tidbit to ponder.

My friend Siobhan posted this today it is from betweenmasses. I thought it well worth the share
The foolish virgins weren’t enemies of the Bridegroom. They weren’t protesting the wedding. They actually wanted to be there. They believed He was coming. And yet, they were shut out.
That should make us a little nervous.
We Catholics can spend remarkable amounts of time discussing how to receive Communion, which direction the priest should face, whether a particular hymn is appropriate, and whether the guitar at the 10:30 Mass constitutes a legitimate reason to contact the bishop.
These things matter. How we worship God matters. But none of them can substitute for loving Him.
There is a terrifying possibility: we can become experts in everything surrounding Christ while neglecting Christ Himself.
St. Augustine saw something profound in the oil. He understood it as charity: the love of God dwelling within us, not merely the outward appearance of religion.
The lamps were visible. The oil was hidden.
You can look devout. You can know your theology. You can defend the Church brilliantly. You can even do good works for entirely the wrong reasons.
And still lack the charity that gives those things life.
Then comes the most frightening moment in the parable. The door closes.
And the Bridegroom says:
“Amen, I say to you, I do not know you.” (Matthew 25:12)
Notice what He doesn’t say.
“You didn’t know enough theology.”
“Your parish used the wrong incense.”
“You failed to identify three liturgical abuses before the Gloria.”
He says He doesn’t know them.
Imagine reaching the end of your life and discovering that you had spent decades defending Someone you had barely spoken to.
That you had argued passionately about the proper way to worship Him, but rarely sat quietly in His presence.
That you had corrected countless strangers on the internet, but struggled to forgive the one living in your own house.
And perhaps that’s the final irony.
The foolish virgins had everything necessary to appear ready for the Bridegroom.
Except what was necessary to meet Him.
As it turns out, not everything labeled “essential” is.
Matthew 25:1-13

Know you are prayed for.

40°F SW@4mph SR0648 SS1644

Morning Offering given

Village sleeps but apparently there have been car and garage break-ins of late. Female suspected and possible address on file.

Coffee is good, think I’ll have another cup

Today we remember Donald Cohan who passed on this date in 1994. May he rest in peace.

St Willlehad illustrates that early failure at our chosen ministries may lead to later success if we remain committed. Father, even when I think I have failed You, let me take heart in Your forgiving love.

Working on a property listing email to print out for a friend. The files are driving me bonkers.

Was early to bed and of course woke after normal sleeping hours accumulated. So here I sit in the office working. Will head in shortly for a shower and then head off to adoration. Will take you all with me.

Know you are prayed for.

23°F NE@1mph SR0646 SS1646

Morning Offering given
Dear Jesus,
Be with me today
as I move through the day.
Of those whose names you
can read in my heart
watch over them
with every care.
Make their way easy
and their labors fruitful.
Dry their tears if they weep,
sanctify their joys,
raise their courage if they weaken
Restore their:
hope if they lose heart,
health if they be ill,
truth if they err, and
repentance if they fall.
Amen

Prayer for Priests

O Jesus, our great High Priest,
Hear my humble prayers on behalf of your priests
Frs. Berns, Bowe, & Richards
Give them a deep faith
A bright and firm hope
and a burning love
which will ever increase
in the course of their priestly life.
In their loneliness, comfort them
in their sorrows, strengthen them
in their frustrations, point out to them
that it is through suffering that the soul is purified
and show them that they are needed by the Church,
They are needed by souls,
They are needed for the work of redemption.
O loving Mother Mary, Mother of Priests,
take to your heart your sons who are close to you
because of their priestly ordination
and because of the power which they have received
to carry on the work of Christ
in a world that needs them so much.
Be their comfort, be their joy, be their strength
and especially help them
to live and to defend the ideals of consecrated celibacy
Amen.

Village peaceful and quiet

Coffee good

Prayers for Don Kempf who fell out of tree stand (30′) yesterday afternoon and life flighted to I believe Madison with multiple injuries.

CFAB Dinner & Play last evening… dinner was wonderful, very well done. The play was wanting but the actors tried very hard. The sound system was poor and the pit band too loud. The language in the opening song offensive. But then the world thinks nothing of taking our Lord’s name in vain and OMG is doing that. I will be labeled old fashioned and told to get with the times. I’ll pass. MV is putting on the same play on Sunday afternoon, my G’dd has the main part; I’m hoping the sound and diction are 100% better. I doubt I will like the open song there either.

Yesterday’s Reflex & Chiro appointments were just what was needed. My body is back in sync.

St. Englebert is admired for his morality. He died in his effort to prevent corruption and thievery in the Church. Just God, help me to be honest and give me the courage to speak out for what is right. Amen.

Let us look at Titus 3:1-7

1^* Remind them to be under the control of magistrates and authorities,^*
to be obedient, to be open to every good enterprise.^a
2 They are to slander no one, to be peaceable, considerate,
exercising all graciousness toward everyone.
3 For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient,
deluded, slaves to various desires and pleasures,
living in malice and envy, hateful ourselves
and hating one another.^b
4 But when the kindness and generous love
of God our savior appeared,^c
5 not because of any righteous deeds we had done
but because of his mercy,
he saved us through the bath of rebirth
and renewal by the holy Spirit,^d
6 whom he richly poured out on us
through Jesus Christ our savior,^e
7 so that we might be justified by his grace
and become heirs in hope of eternal life.^f

Contemplate these verses as you come to terms with the midterm elections and think about how you can accomplish God’s will for the United States. Understand what our Lord is telling us and how we can weave that into our daily lives.

Know you are prayed for.

29°F NNW@3mpr SR0645 SS1647

Morning Offering given

Village chilly

Coffee good

Birthday greetings to DD#2 Tabitha who is 48 today.
We remember James Hogan we passed on this day in 1992, may he RIP

St Leonard of Noblac shows that Jesus died and rose so that we could all be freed from the prison of sin. Beloved Christ, let me feel in my very soul the freedom You gained for me at such a great cost.

CCC pg. 539. V. The Authorities in Civil Society
2234 God’s fourth commandment also enjoins us to honor all who for our good have received authority in society from God.  It clarifies the duties of those who exercise authority as well as those who benefit from it. ¹⁸⁹⁷ (pg. 463 Article 2 Participation in Social Life) Human society can be neither well-ordered nor prosperous unless it has some people invested with legitimate authority to preserve its institutions and to devote themselves as far as is necessary to work and care for the good of all.” ¹⁵ (John XXIII, PT 46) By “authority” one means the quality by virtue of which persons or institutions make laws and give orders to men and expect obedience from them. In Acts 5:29 Peter and the apostles tell us, “We must obey God rather than men.” So am I understanding correctly that we obey the government as long as they govern for the good of all? What guidelines do we use to determine “the good of all”? The 10 Commandments? The USCCB tells us the fundamental moral litmus test for the good of all is how society treats its most poor, vulnerable, and marginalized members (known as the “option for the poor and vulnerable“) It seems we all fall short as we try to incorporate into government those things we personally believe to be options. What say you?

Chilly and damp this morning. I do believe fall has arrived in my neck of the woods. Our leaves never really showed the fall color beauty, and now they are falling from the trees. Tonight is the CFAB fundraiser “Dinner & a Show” I’m looking forward to it. I’m loving that the group another woman and I started is thriving and making a difference for the Arts in the public school. I’m also looking at the local food pantry and am amazed that it has grown so. When another woman and I began setting things up for a food pantry/thrift shop we never dreamed it could be this successful. All we were looking at was helping our parish and a few transients in town. God does work in mysterious ways. Reflexology and Chiropractic are on the agenda for this morning. Along with the usual laundry housecleaning before I go. Which means I must get moving or I won’t have enough time.

Know you are prayed for.

47°F WSW@3mph SR0644 SS1648

Morning Offering given

Jesus take me as I am
Summon out what I should be
Set your seal upon my heart
Holy Spirit dwell in me.

Village damp from rainy mist

Coffee good

With only 4 weeks left in the liturgical year, I decided to do Meditations & Readings from a devotional series published years ago by “The Word Among Us Press”. They have a compilation of several books that talk about each book of the New Testament. Leo Zanchettin is the General Editor, and we will be using the following books in this series. Mark (1998), Acts (2001), Romans & Galatians (2002), A Church in Transition…1 Tim-Hebrews (2005), and The Church Moves Out… James-Jude (2006)
•Mark 12:17 So Jesus said to them, “Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.” They were utterly amazed at him.^f
•Acts 5:29 But Peter and the apostles said in reply, “We must obey God rather than men.ⁱ
•Romans 13:1-7 Let every person be subordinate to the higher authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been established by God.^a 2 Therefore, whoever resists authority opposes what God has appointed, and those who oppose it will bring judgment upon themselves. 3 For rulers are not a cause of fear to good conduct, but to evil.^b Do you wish to have no fear of authority? Then do what is good and you will receive approval from it, 4 for it is a servant of God for your good. But if you do evil, be afraid, for it does not bear the sword without purpose; it is the servant of God to inflict wrath on the evildoer.^c 5 Therefore, it is necessary to be subject not only because of the wrath but also because of conscience.^d 6 This is why you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, devoting themselves to this very thing. 7 Pay to all their dues, taxes to whom taxes are due, toll to whom toll is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due.^e
•Titus 3:1 ^* Remind them to be under the control of magistrates and authorities,^* to be obedient, to be open to every good enterprise.^a
•1 Peter 2:13-17 Be subject to every human institution for the Lord’s sake, whether it be to the king as supreme^k  14 or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the approval of those who do good. 15 For it is the will of God that by doing good you may silence the ignorance of foolish people. 16 Be free, yet without using freedom as a pretext for evil, but as slaves of God.^l 17 Give honor to all, love the community, fear God, honor the king.^m   

Above are the scripture readings we will look at. I have them listed in order here but may be using them in a different order. Please feel free to comment your thoughts and opinions.

The CCC is another source we will look at. https://www.vatican.va/content/catechism/en/part_three/section_two/chapter_two/article_4/v_the_authorities_in_civil_society.html

You may want to consider picking up a 4-book series by John Bartunek called “the better part”. It can be found at Thrift Book, ABE, etc. for an extremely reasonable price.

Know you are prayed for.

59°F S@9mph SR0642 SS1649

Morning Offering given

Lord protect me from the new governing socialists.
Protect your church from closure at the whims and fancies of the Governor
Protect our country from the in fighting that will ensue and the loss of all gains
from the past 2 years.
Enlighten our new government in morals and virtue.
Amen.

I can honestly say I haven’t been this frightened since the Obama election, or the Pope Francis/ Cardinal Burke papal vote. I cried both times knowing deep within me the world, nation, and church were not going to end up being better places.

I have no words right now to even put here that are coherent.

Know you are prayed for

64°F S@9mph SR0641 SS1651

Morning Offering given

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful
kindle in them the fire of Your love.
Send forth Your Spirit and they shall be created,
and You shall renew the face of the earth.
O God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit
did instruct the hearts of the faithful,
grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise
and ever enjoy His consolations.
Lord, guide my heart today as I cast my vote.
May my choice be in harmony with Your will,
and may I serve the good of my community and the Church.
Amen

Village damp from rain, waking to vote in the midterm elections.

St. Martin de Porres, reminds us of God’s universal love and his desire that we love one another regardless of race. Loving God, help me to speak out against bigotry of any kind.

Meditations for Each Day, pg. 442, The Pains of Purgatory
The ordinary teaching of the Church includes fire as the principal torment. However, the Church has never defined the nature of this fare, nor determined whether it is physical or spiritual. It is certain that this fire is as real as the flames of Hell and is created by God, not to be an instrument of service to men, but to be a means of expiation and purification. This is why it is a far more tormenting fire than that which we know and use on earth.

Scripture Reading for Day 3 of A Heart of Thanksgiving
Colossians 3:16-17 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, as in all wisdom you teach and admonish one another, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.^m 17 And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.ⁿ
John 14:27 Peace^* I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.^s

Election Day here in Wisconsin!
Be sure to get out and vote; the polls open at 7AM. It is extremely important that we exorcise our right to do that and our obligation to vote for the person who will be in harmony with God’s will, serve the good of the community, and the Church. I am speaking about the following of God’s rules (Ten Commandments) and about doing the hard things that may anger people who are not leading in a manner that is for the good of the community. Just as it is for parents, the government must say NO to things that will tear down community and lead even though it is not what some would choose. With that said for those of us who may not be in agreement at all times, may we be respectful of the office while coherently speaking what we believe to be the way to go. May we do it with a heart of service and good of all, while, keeping within the parameters of morality and virtue. We then must go one step further and daily pray for the government we don’t care for asking the Holy Spirit to enlighten that government with God’s will. This would be impossible without the Holy Spirit’s intervention.

My day appears to be relatively easy; may what it appears to be, in fact be, what it is.
7AM, vote
8AM, teacher to school
830AM, woman to doctor appointment & home again

With: laundry, front porch cleaning, vacuuming, and refrigerator cleaning when it fits in.

Please send up a few prayers for my family as they appear to be experiencing some difficulties in their lives.

Know you are prayed for.

57⁰F  SE@7mph  SR0640  SS1652

Morning Offering given

Jesus take me as I am.
Summon out what I should be.
Set your seal upon my heart.
Holy Spirit dwell in me.

Village waking

No coffee

Headed out early for a 5:30 pick up in Boscobel.

7:00 maid & teacher pick up

8:00 workshop workers

9:00 LaFarge Midwife Clinic

3:00 workshop workers & teacher

Then home

Good way to begin the month.

Know you are prayed for.

45⁰F ESE@2mph SR0638 SS1653

Hello standard time! So very nice to have you back.

Morning Offering given

Village enjoying the hour of sleep returned to us.

Adoration 5-7

Mass @ 8

Know you are prayed for.