Sunday, 1 March 2015
Praise God!
Someone I know well drove three and a half hours and back again in a snow storm to take me to a beautiful Mass and shopping as I needed food and a legal Mass. Another friend from the south-eastern part of America wanted to buy me food, but the company would not let her pay and have it sent to a different address! We live in strange times. She will try and send it later this week by another source.
Such are the saints of God. Bless them! I am blessed in my middle-aged lady friends! Both of them have jobs and families. Thanks J and J....
Such are the saints of God. Bless them! I am blessed in my middle-aged lady friends! Both of them have jobs and families. Thanks J and J....
Practical Advice on Downsizing
In 2011, I drastically downsized. I got rid of twenty boxes of teaching and home schooling notes by passing these on to a homeschooling family. I gave all my furniture to the poor. I had been made redundant in a college and could not find a job so I began a new life of utter simplicity. I had to move from my flat, which was too big after my son left.
I had art supplies, craft things, things which were my son's, and so on. Most of those things went. Son said, "Mum, get rid of everything except my cricket bat from my first half-century."
I got rid of thousands of books, keeping only theology, philosophy and some literature--still too many and when I can get someone to help me got through the boxes again, which are in storage in the Midwest, I shall pass on more books.
I just could not get anyone to help me in 2013-2014 from November to October over that period of time go through things at this site.
Here are some hints for downsizing and moving into smaller quarters.
1) If you can buy the things at the other end, pass them on: most clothes, pots and pans and other items can be passed on as these things are easy to get even at the St. Vincent de Paul stores. I have enough clothes to fit into two suitcases. That is enough, but one may need to buy more if one is moving to a different climate-hot to cold or cold to hot. Be clever about what is necessary and useful.
2) If furniture is not antique or worth more than 500 usd, per piece, pass it on. I passed on much more expensive stuff to the really poor, who could not pay me back. God will bless you for your generosity. Even at my age, one can sit on floors, eat on one table, not needing two, and sleep without having the best beds. Most of my blogging is done on the floor with my laptop on my lap and a blanket over my shoulders, and I have a spinal injury which did not heal correctly. Pain is prayer for all my readers.
3) Personal items which are important can be saved, but to an limit. Some people are too sentimental. I never kept rose petals from my various important bouquets. God will give you new flowers, even along the side of the road, to appreciate. The purification of the imagination begins with giving God your memory. He wants us to live in the present, not the past. God is found in the present moment.
4) Jewelry should not be kept if it means paying for storage in banks. I know a millionairess who has very few pieces-only those she wears weekly. She is an example to all.
5) If you have adult children and you have their stuff at your house, tell them to come and get it NOW or it is going to the St. Vincent de Paul. I know this is a problem for many parents. But, put your foot down. You do not have to store Johnny's football memorabilia from high school, or Jane's first date dress. Even one's wedding dress can be passed on to those who may want an older style. I sold mine years ago to a seamstress who wanted to re-use the expensive Spanish lace on the dress. My little family needed the money. I gave away the veiled hat to a bride-to be, and so on.
6) Buy a trailer for moving and make sure your stuff only fits into that trailer. Buy it before downsizing and use it for discernment as to what to keep and what to pass on. This is, of course, easier for a single person, but families can sit down and discuss what is really important.
7) If you have children, ask them to pass on old toys, games, etc. to the poor. Some parishes take toys for childcare.
8) Stop buying "stuff". How many bunny rabbit statues, ornaments, baskets, flower arrangements does one NEED? One is tempted to buy these things, but do not.
9) Pretend you are like me and have allergic reactions to dust, mold, scented candles...one can live without such stuff which collects dust. Collect, if you are so inclined, icons, and religious things easy to move.
10) Imagine having to move fast...what would you take? Pray for guidance.
11) The Holy Family is our model. Jesus, Mary and Joseph most likely lived in a two room house with stairs to a flat roof. Jesus, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, chose such a house to live is for most of His Sacred Life on earth. He is our Guide.
12) If you are buying a new house, buy one smaller than what you want, unless God is calling you to create a safe haven. I know one very holy family, wherein the couple have chosen a Josephite marriage, and they have a small house with four children. Daddy sleeps on the sofa. (I am discovering more and more couples who have chosen the Josephite way.) Mortification and penance can come in creative ways.
About The Luminous Mysteries
People have asked me about the validity and value of the Luminous Mysteries.
First of all, the rosary is not doctrine, but practice, and part of our tradition of piety, which can be changed. Changes are valid.
Second, a saint, John Paul II, added the Luminous Mysteries. These have value. The more I have meditated on these, the clearer Christ becomes in His Person.
I taught them with the original document when these first came out. Here is the link to that document.
http://www.ewtn.com/library/PAPALDOC/JP2ROSAR.HTM
I have come to love the Luminous Mysteries, which reflect on the Mysteries of Christology, in some of the most moving of the manifestations of love in the life on earth of the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity.
My rosary meditation (would someone like to help me publish that?) does not include the Luminous Mysteries as it was written years and years before the new ones were promulgated.
Mary leads us to Christ.
The rosary leads us to Christ through Mary.
Read the document for a beautiful understanding of the need for the Mysteries of Light now, more than ever. From the text:
19. Of the many mysteries of Christ's life, only a few are indicated by the Rosary in the form that has become generally established with the seal of the Church's approval. The selection was determined by the origin of the prayer, which was based on the number 150, the number of the Psalms in the Psalter.
I believe, however, that to bring out fully the Christological depth of the Rosary it would be suitable to make an addition to the traditional pattern which, while left to the freedom of individuals and communities, could broaden it to include the mysteries of Christ's public ministry between his Baptism and his Passion. In the course of those mysteries we contemplate important aspects of the person of Christ as the definitive revelation of God. Declared the beloved Son of the Father at the Baptism in the Jordan, Christ is the one who announces the coming of the Kingdom, bears witness to it in his works and proclaims its demands. It is during the years of his public ministry that the mystery of Christ is most evidently a mystery of light:“While I am in the world, I am the light of the world” (Jn 9:5).
Consequently, for the Rosary to become more fully a “compendium of the Gospel”, it is fitting to add, following reflection on the Incarnation and the hidden life of Christ (the joyful mysteries) and before focusing on the sufferings of his Passion (the sorrowful mysteries) and the triumph of his Resurrection (the glorious mysteries), a meditation on certain particularly significant moments in his public ministry (the mysteries of light). This addition of these new mysteries, without prejudice to any essential aspect of the prayer's traditional format, is meant to give it fresh life and to enkindle renewed interest in the Rosary's place within Christian spirituality as a true doorway to the depths of the Heart of Christ, ocean of joy and of light, of suffering and of glory.
If you want a beautiful rosary, I highly recommend this site. My son bought me this one below for Mother's Day one year.
https://www.etsy.com/people/tiggawild
And one footnote from the above document:
11 It is well-known and bears repeating that private revelations are not the same as public revelation, which is binding on the whole Church. It is the task of the Magisterium to discern and recognize the authenticity and value of private revelations for the piety of the faithful.
And one footnote from the above document:
11 It is well-known and bears repeating that private revelations are not the same as public revelation, which is binding on the whole Church. It is the task of the Magisterium to discern and recognize the authenticity and value of private revelations for the piety of the faithful.
Well someone bigger than I am in media agrees with me
http://www.speroforum.com/a/UXSDCEIHXM44/75617-Laura-Ingraham-Bush-and-Clinton-on-same-ticket?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+speroforum%2Fnroq+%28Spero+News%29#.VPMt8vmsVLY
Wow, are people with money touchy!
Also, Jeb Bush supports Common Core, which is evil...and about which I have written many times on this blog. IMHO, he is part of the NWO!
Wow, are people with money touchy!
Also, Jeb Bush supports Common Core, which is evil...and about which I have written many times on this blog. IMHO, he is part of the NWO!
A Specific Warning
If you do not think the new Net Neutrality law will not affect YOU, think again and read the commentaries coming out fast and furious.
Look today before some of these sites no longer carry such news...Google news yourself today on this horrible bill. Too bad it passed.....the media giants pushed this, as well as big business.
Look today before some of these sites no longer carry such news...Google news yourself today on this horrible bill. Too bad it passed.....the media giants pushed this, as well as big business.
A General Warning
Only parents should teach children sex education. Period.
Not even Catholic groups should do this. It is not the business of other people outside of the authority of the parent to teach children intimate things, even theology of the body groups.
In fact, I think strangers have no authority from God to teach sex education.
Only parents have been given this authority from God.
And, I again mention that Blessed Paul VI's and St. John Paul II's desires for the deaconate marriages were that they would accept Josephite marriages, and same with married priests. Sadly, this ancient rule has been bent by local bishops. Deacons should not be teaching sex education. Period.
Not even Catholic groups should do this. It is not the business of other people outside of the authority of the parent to teach children intimate things, even theology of the body groups.
In fact, I think strangers have no authority from God to teach sex education.
Only parents have been given this authority from God.
And, I again mention that Blessed Paul VI's and St. John Paul II's desires for the deaconate marriages were that they would accept Josephite marriages, and same with married priests. Sadly, this ancient rule has been bent by local bishops. Deacons should not be teaching sex education. Period.
Happy St. David's Day
...to the Welsh friends of mine.
Wear the leek and daffodil proudly today.
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| "Wild daffodils beside the river Leadon - geograph.org.uk - 368845" by Philip Halling. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wild_daffodils_beside_the_river_Leadon_-_geograph.org.uk_-_368845.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Wild_daffodils_beside_the_river_Leadon_-_geograph.org.uk_-_368845.jpg |
Wear the leek and daffodil proudly today.
 |
| "Daffodil field just off the Daffodil Way - geograph.org.uk - 769964" by Trevor Rickard. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Daffodil_field_just_off_the_Daffodil_Way_-_geograph.org.uk_-_769964.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Daffodil_field_just_off_the_Daffodil_Way_-_geograph.org.uk_-_769964.jpg |
Another Storm
The area in which I am living temporarily has had another storm. The people here are used to snow, but to have two storms within days at this time of year is rare.
Please pray for the elderly.
Please pray for the elderly.
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