A book of prayers to the Holy Face of Jesus

Life is a Spiritual BattleLife is a spiritual battle! “To the victor go the spoils!” What’s at stake is the destiny of our souls for all eternity! How we live this moment, followed by the next moment, in the “eternal now” of this life determines the outcome of your soul during the remainder of this life and for all eternity! Strive always, therefore, to unite your soul to God! Moment by moment, day by day, year by year! Consciously do this and the spiritual battle is already won! Fail to do this and it could be an eternal disaster! Prioritize then these moments in the eternal now with God as your mantelpiece and destination, as we know not the number of days this life offers you to win this spiritual battle. Control your destiny each moment of each day by loving and uniting with God and by loving your neighbor as yourself!   “Jesus replied: “ ’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[a] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[b] 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Mathew 22:37-40.​

Moment of Clarity. Have the Faith to exchange the present for the future. To exchange the trinkets for the treasure. A House On A Rock Or A Castle In The Sand? Choose Wisely. When we leave the sandbox and see the endless beach right in front of us! When we leave the realm of time and contemplate eternity. When we finally recognize how truly limited the time is that we have here and how truly incomprehensible eternity will be! When we stop in humility and recognize how pathetically little we are in the vastness of the Universe. And how great a gift we have been offered if we simply choose to and live in Christ! What are you chasing and where will it get you? Don’t squander you eternal inheritance by deceiving yourself with your own vanity.

We and Us.Avoid using the words “me,” “I” and “them!” It invites separation and Segregation! It invites vanity and ego! It creates thoughts of hierarchy and judgment! Instead, consider the more frequent use of the words “we” and “us,” and “our!” These words are inviting, inclusive, and of gathering together! It invokes community, and family, and a unified group! Think in terms of circles instead of lines,Groups instead of parties! We all bleed the same, regardless of race, religion or creed! We should all be united under one flag! One nation under God, with liberty and justice for All! “One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”He said to them, “When you pray, say:“‘Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come.Give us each day our daily bread.Forgive us our sins,    for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.And lead us not into temptation.”Luke 11:1-4​

 “Hulk Heart Not Hard.   Hulk Love.   Hulk Not Smash.” The heart pumps blood and oxygen to all parts of the body, from brain matter to muscle making it an essential part of human anatomy and functionality!  But on a spiritual level, the heart also serves a vital role in our decisions, in our attitudes, in our beliefs, and in how we treat ourselves and others!And like the physical heart which is a muscle which with proper exercise and care will keep us healthy and strong, so too, the exercise of the spiritual heart, will give us spiritual sustainability and vitality!And when the heart slows or stops altogether it can cause serious life-threatening issues or even death, so too, if we “slow” or “stop” our spiritual exercises (prayer, mass, scripture, etc) then we can be spiritually harmed or even lost! “With All vigilance, Guard Your heart, for in it are the sources of Life.”  Proverbs 4:23. Wherever our hearts and minds are focused, there also is where our hearts lie! “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:21. Our Hearts are a Life-Giving Force, Both physically and spiritually!So I ask you, where is the LOVE??? What is it that you treasure most?How does hate slip into your heart and does it consume you?What we Hate in our hearts makes for a hardened heart.When a heart that is the life-giving force is starved for Love what is left?Does hatred cloud your heart? “Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation; in the day of temptation in the desert,Where your fathers tempted me, proved and saw my works,Forty years: for which cause I was offended with this generation, and I said: They always err in heart. And they have not known my ways,As I have sworn in my wrath: If they shall enter into my rest.Take heed, brethren, lest perhaps there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, to depart from the living God.But exhort one another every day, whilst it is called to day, that none of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.For we are made partakers of Christ: yet so, if we hold the beginning of his substance firm unto the end.While it is said, To day if you shall hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in that provocation.”  Hebrews 3:8-15. Prayer of St. Francis:“All highest, glorious God, cast Thy light into the darkness of our hearts, give us true faith, firm hope, perfect charity and profound humility, so that with wisdom, courage and perception, O Lord, we may do what is truly Thy holy will.”

 Work Your Way Up By Working Your Way Down Your “To Do” List. Begin On Bended Knee!How many times have we told ourselves, “I really need to get that done,” “I’ll get after it tomorrow” or “I’ll tackle that project sometime soon!”Our best intentions can be slowed or pushed off by procrastination, lack of ambition or just other priorities!But we need to make basic habits to tackle small projects or even big ones so that we don’t wind up another year older and no headway on things that need to get “cleaned up” or “tackled” in our lives!I find making a list very helpful! A written list helps me consciously remember and see the items I wish to accomplish. It helps me prioritize which projects come first, set time parameters for getting them done, and allows me the “feel good” opportunity of checking off the items as I work down the list!So start a habit of working down a list!Start by creating your Bucket List!!  Yes a Bucket List!  What are those items that are really, really important in my life!  If I run out of tomorrows, what would I like to leave behind?What do I want my children and grandchildren to know about me and my faith and my beliefs that I would like them to know and to carry on to the next generation or generations?What did I learn from my parents and grandparents that were important in making me and my spouse who we are?How can I assist others through my wisdom and experience in their own faith journey?What is the best way to stay “Rooted” and on the “Right Path?”Sooner or Later we all Run out of Tomorrows! Tackle that Bucket List in such a way that regardless of how much time we have, no matter when our time ends, we have little regrets!As we create our Bucket list and daily list of “To Do’s” it helps to get started with the right attitude!I find that if we start each day in the right frame of mind, and from the best vantage point in which we see the world, it makes the day and our life seem more orderly and focused! As for me, I determined long ago, that in order to do that it has to be from on my knees!“Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:Who, being in very nature God,did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;rather, he made himself nothingby taking the very nature of a servant,being made in human likeness.And being found in appearance as a man,he humbled himselfby becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!Therefore God exalted him to the highest placeand gave him the name that is above every name,that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,in heaven and on earth and under the earth,and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,to the glory of God the Father.Do Everything Without Grumbling Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, ‘children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.’  Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky!” Phillipians 2:1-15.