Categories, etc......

FYI-in case you haven't figured this out, if you click on any of the categories at the top of each post (for instance, this post has two categories:  "General" and "Spiritual Life"), you will get all posts with that category.  I realize a side-bar with a list of all the categories would be AWESOME!  And how about a "Search" button?  And there are a lot of other improvements we need to make.  The problem is, that I have had difficulty finding the time to do these things and when I do have the time, I have difficulty figuring out HOW to do these things.  It should be easy, right?  This isn't my first blog.  Yes, I agree it should be easy but for some reason, it ISN'T.  I don't want to say bad things about Squarespace-maybe I'm just not smart enough or maybe I'm not paying enough $ to get these deluxe features....I don't know!  Anyway, I want to reassure you that I am working on these improvements and you should see something happening in the coming days.......

I hope.

BTW, do you know what this coming Thursday is???

The 99th Anniversary of the Miracle of the Sun at Fatima! 

Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us! 

Dear Lucia, Jacinta and Francisco, pray for us!

I also wanted to mention that my husband and I have, in honor of the feast of Saint Faustina this month, been praying the Divine Mercy Chaplet Novena.  Its also quite appropriate during this Respect Life "Moved by Mercy" Month (see previous post) and in these final days of the Jubilee Year of Mercy.  The Chaplet Novena is such a blessing to pray.  The first time we prayed it, guess what we found out on the final day....That I was pregnant with our son (after a number of "negative" tests), our only child!  (We also visited the Divine Mercy Shrine in Massachusetts on our honeymoon, which was only two months earlier.)  If you are a devout Catholic, this is no surprise to you-you already know that God often gives us these little signs!  CM:)

Divine Mercy at My Church....

I would like to share my experience yesterday celebrating Divine Mercy Sunday at my church in Suffolk County, Long Island.  We had a bi-lingual (English/Spanish) celebration of the Mass with the Rosary, Stations of the Cross, the Divine Mercy Chaplet and Exposition.  The whole celebration took 3 1/2 hours.  The turnout was great-a full church, about 90% Latino of all ages.  A bishop presided.  It was one of the most moving spiritual experiences of my life. 

As we sung the Divine Mercy Chaplet-half in English, half in Spanish-I began to feel a great unity.....first, with the wonderful devout Latino people present and gradually, I became aware of the entire world on this day raising a unified chorus to the Father...."For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world!"  I thought of the recent terror attacks and murders, some specifically against Christians.  I thought of September 11th.  I thought of the abortion holocaust.  All the immorality.  The whole ailing world raising this prayer to God together on one day.  I felt Saint Faustina's presence with us-what an extraordinary accomplishment to secure this great and most necessary feast for the world.

During Exposition, many people crowded around the altar and knelt.  I decided to join them.  The whole church was praying with all their hearts, some shouting out, "Jesus, I trust in You!  Jesus, I love You!"  It reminded me of great paintings of the saints in Heaven, like the one above.  I felt as if I were standing with all of them at the end of time, as Saint John describes:

"After this I saw a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and tribes, and peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne, and in sight of the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands:  And they cried with a loud voice, saying: Salvation to our God, who sitteth upon the throne, and to the Lamb."  Apocalypse 7:9

Suddenly a young women who was kneeling in front me fainted.  I have heard of such things, but have never actually seen it before.  I know this is a point of controversy....I have no specific opinion because I do not know enough about these things-I do have a certain reserve in these matters, as most traditional-minded Catholics do.  But I don't wish to get into any of that right now.  I will say, her face, as she lay unconscious, looked utterly peaceful-it even seemed she had a slight smile.  No one was concerned about her, except me (probably because they were familiar with this sort of thing).  I went up to her, stroked her forehead and prayed for her.  After a few minutes, she awoke, seemed dazed but peaceful, and carried on.

I thank the Most Holy Trinity for these blessings yesterday and also, I thank Saint Faustina for giving us the message of Our Lord's great mercy.  It just goes to show you how important each and every life is.  How important it is that we do the work God has uniquely given each one of us.  Whether we reach a few, or millions....it matters.  That is why we must always strive to be the best we can be...spiritually, mentally and physically...because someone....somewhere....is counting on us.

Image courtesy http://mute-the-silence.blogspot.com/2013/11/all-saints-day-in-greece-and-more.html