A book of prayers to the Holy Face of Jesus

 Am I Watering The Right Things?  What’s In Your Garden? CS Lewis once stated, “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less.”  I have found that much can be accomplished with the right perspective of ourselves and our role, and with Mission-driven purpose, not our own selfish desires leading the Charge! I define mission as “Using what is God Given for What is God Driven” A MISSION IS GOD’S OVERARCHING UNIQUE PURPOSE FOR YOUR LIFE. It is the big picture of what God has called you to uniquely contribute with the life He has given you.It is a broad umbrella that covers your entire life, both career and personal. Getting Started:Start in humble Prayer to help you in Recognizing Your Unique Gifts and your unique ability, and commit them to writing!Randomly write down whatever comes to mind!Next Spend some reflective quiet time:Defining mission;Focusing your influence;Finding your God-given mission; andWriting a personal mission statement.Stay Rooted:Start Each Day in Prayer and reflection with the “right” perspective! Lord Make My Life A Living PrayerLord with childhood innocence and with the spirit of truth, make my life a living prayer. Make every conversation and every action today be for you, by you and through you with every gift and grace you give to me! Make every sacrifice a simple offering to your greater glory and honor! Purge and cleanse my soul and forge and strengthen my spirit! Lord, make every prayer request a  humble and sincere acknowledgement of your divine mercy and grace, knowing it is only through you we can be healed, and only through you that we can be saved!-Amen​

f It says “pickles” on the label, there better be pickles in the jar! I have found that we as human beings do not always live what we profess, nor profess what we live! I, like most people, have found myself jumping on my soap box about something I am passionate about or a philosophy I believe firmly in! It is quite another to practice what I preach! A thorough and frequent self examination and reflection is necessary therefore to make sure we start and stay on track! St. Ignatious developed a process practitioners call “Ignation Conteplation” to conduct this self-assessment which requires a reflection usually at the beginning and the end of the day! Here are some things to ponder during that critical quiet time of reflection: -Seek Him in all things and failure will be impossible!     -Do not let the weight of this world outshine the light that you carry within of Him in you and you in Him!     -Say “yes” to Christ and let His heart beat eternally with your own! We will struggle so who do you look to in the struggle? He gave himself from birth to death so that all things were made new! Everything is possible with God! We listen, we follow, we trust, and we share the good news! Faith is the Sound that Fills The Emptiness!!​

Practice Your Pitch And Be Perfect In Christ! Roar! As a singer, I am a bit envious of a few people I have met over the years as vocalists with perfect pitch.  That is, the ability to hit notes without any assistance from an instrument or from others! It’s pretty amazing to always be in unison and perfect harmony and sing the sound from your root memory! Those people also have incredible voices as well so there is a magic and a godlike tonal quality that fills the air!  So it is when we are in unison and harmony with God! We become God’s voice and his hands and feet in unison with Him and the world that surrounds us, and it is amazing, even miraculous at times! Like perfect pitch, we are born with the ability, but as with any talent or God Given gift it must be exercised and perfected through practice! So it is with our God given gift within our own souls, we must make a practice to bring our souls in unison and harmony with God! That can only come with the practice of prayer and the sacraments! Exercise these practices! Now go out and Change The World!!​

Trust in the Father in the face of adversity.  Trust in God’s divine providence and make an act of Love of our own free will to trust in His divine providence!Pray for the ability to Love without attachment, to love unceasingly! A forgiving love, a sacrificial love, as Christ did for us on the cross! Love All The Way! One that doesn’t stop when things get rough, or when things don’t go as we planned. Love that doesn’t get diminished by tragedy, or uncertainty, or adversity. Love that trusts and obeys God completely out of our own free will, and accepts the consequences! A total trust that God’s divine providence, His mercy and His grace, knows all, sees all, and loves all! Love All The Way! No short cuts! Love so powerful and profound, that even in your greatest suffering you can find it in you to forgive even your enemies! No Greater Love ever existed! Love All The Way! Love All the Time! Let’s live the First and Second commandments and let Love run through our veins! Love All the Way!​

Are You Suited Up For The Battle For Your Soul? Choose Your Weapon! THE WEAPON OF FREE WILL God gave us two gifts and our Lord Taught us best how to use them. God granted us TIME, and FREE WILL. While none of us know how much time we will be given we all have the Free WIll to decide how we wish to use that time! Most people think of Free Will as a a choice or a series of choices! I submit that Free Will is actually a weapon, and Christ demonstrates clearly the best and most proper use of that weapon at the beginning and the end of his passion! “Father not my will but yours be done.” Luke 22:42.  When in our greatest moment of weakness we ignore our own pride, fear, and give up our own will and seek unison with the divine will of the Father! And the result of that divine union and submission is the greatest gift the world has ever known! I believe that is what God meant when he told Saint Paul, “My power is made perfect in weakness.” 2 Corinthians 12:9. We also learn That our Lord offers up His Spirit to God as he takes his last breath! “Father, into your hands I commend my Spirit.” Luke 23:46. By offering our free will to God’s and Commending your spirit to the Father in total surrender and harmony with the Father, we create a unified FORTRESS that cannot be broken. When our FREE WILL becomes one with the Father’s, no force in the heavens, here on earth or in the Hells can ever break it! If we use our free will as a weapon, and offer our souls and spirit to God, it can’t be touched, compromised, or taken from you! Satan cannot rob you of something you don’t own!  Sin and Evil no longer have a grasp on you! Let’’s not let the Weapon of Free Will be used to shoot ourselves in the foot or worse hold a gun to our own head through bad decisions and sin! Unite with the Will of the Father with your own Free Will Weapon of Choice! Become a Prayer Warrior with the daily use of the endless supply of the prayer ammunition you hold! Keep your weapon clean through a continual process of repentance and keep your armory fully stocked in Faith and Hope! —– “Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.  Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.  Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;  And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;  Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:  Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.”  Ephesians 6:11-18.​