A book of prayers to the Holy Face of Jesus

 Mary Pleads That We Heed The Father and For The Father’s Mercy Upon Us. Oh, That We Would Do The First And Deserve The Second!   A father’s role in a household usually is to be the primary disciplinarian when children are unruly or disobedient. Mothers usually request her children to stop misbehaving, then plead for their cooperation and finally warn them sternly of their father’s punishment when he gets home and finds out how poorly they have been behaving. No mother ever likes the idea of having to punish.  Surely, no loving parent does.  So mothers do their best to warn and encourage a turnaround so that the father doesn’t have to inflict “tough love” and just punishment for the betterment of the child. June 24, 2016, marked the 35th anniversary of the start of the Blessed Virgin Mary’s DAILY apparitions in Medjugorje in Bosnia and Herzegovina.  The Blessed Mother originally appeared to six children in which she encouraged, pled, and yes, warned, mankind of the need to change…of the need to believe in and respect the Father.  ( secrets).  The Blessed Mother continues to determinedly appear and her message to the thousands who have since personally witnessed her has not changed. The Blessed Mother continues to warn and encourage us to stop our selfish acts and come back to the Father.  She is asking us to take a “time out” in prayer, repentance, and Christian living to help heal ourselves and the world around us! No father who loves their children will allow havoc to run amok for very long!  If we don’t heed the warnings and change our ways, some ‘tough love’ is coming!​

 Take, Eat; This Is My Body  Tribe survival depends on a collective gathering of its members for the common good.  Food is gathered, prepared, distributed and shared.  The unity of the community is at its peak in this shared fundamental process.  This process of offering and receiving throughout the community has to have an element of unity and love for it to take place, otherwise those that gather would never share.  So it is basic tribal knowledge that the strong serve the weak and the weak serve the strong for a common good and betterment of the whole. The communal mass serves us spiritual food for that same common good!  Christ gives us strength through the sacrificial offering of the Eucharist.  The Eucharist is a sacrifice inasmuch as it is offered up and a sacrament inasmuch as it is received.  In the Mass we offer ourselves to God and God gives Himself to us.  The Mass will be fruitful in the measure of our surrender to the Father.  As we empty ourselves in surrender to the Father’s will, the spirit of God fills that void perfectly in communion with Him through the Eucharistic food we eat. “In weakness power reaches perfection.” 2 Corinthians 12:9.  Spiritual food for the weak and the strong in the community unity of Mass!  No more hunger pangs!

Okay – no one except Elijah!  But that Was A Chariot of Fire and Horses of Fire, so that’s different!Seriously, it is necessary somehow to earn one’s way! My mother used to comfort me as a child during difficult times.  “We all have our cross to bear,” she would say!  It took me a long time to understand what she really meant! Wounds that are deep heal with an even greater strength…a stronger bond, and if offered up out of Love, commits both the body and spirit in Unity to God. Just as the Israelites accepted Freedom in the desert being “purged” in the Faith, we need to cling to that strong bond of freedom rather than get caught in the anger and frustration of the “heat” we are enduring!This bond of Hope and Faith gets “forged” into a wellspring of love and grace. We are called, then, to love God and to believe in Him in the difficulties of life, because we recognize that the stormy things give us strength and the help to go forward each day. “Light is in both the broken bottle and the diamond.” ― , I am reminded of St Paul’s struggles in 2 Corinthians 12:7-9:“Therefore, that I might not become too elated, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, an angel of Satan, to beat me, to keep me from being too elated.  Three times I begged the Lord about this, that it might leave me, but he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.’  I will rather boast most gladly of my weaknesses, in order that the power of Christ may dwell with me.” Virtue is manifested and deepened precisely through suffering, where virtue is tried and perfected.  The apostle’s experience confirms that we learn to love God through suffering, perfecting ourselves in love.When Mind, Body and Spirit unite in faith and love for God, we now have the power to heal.  Our sufferings and self sacrifice, when done in faith and out of Love, propel us, can be uplifting and can even give us spiritual wings! And who needs a Horse and carriage when you have wings!!​

 Learn How To Live. Learn How To Die. Don’t Wait!Why wait until the last minute? The term “deadline,” I am told, is derived from the U.S. Civil War when captured soldiers were held in a stockade!  A rail was built 20 yards inside the outer wall and sharp-shooters were positioned in towers overlooking the stockade.  Soldiers were not allowed to cross beyond the railing.  If they crossed the “deadline” they would be shot. Now deadlines are used as a time measurement tool to get things accomplished within a defined time limit. But why do we wait for the last minute for anything, especially when it comes to life’s most important issues. We get caught up in the day to day hustle and bustle and lose sight of the end game and the mission-critical things. So what is really, really important? Learn how to live!  Learn how to die If we start each day in deep contemplation of these two things…and start with the end in mind, we can make our life, and our death more complete, meaningful, and fulfilling. Try to start each day in meditation and contemplation asking yourself, “if I get called home today:-What will I cherish most?-What will I regret most?-What am I most thankful for?” Answer these questions and you’ve learned how to die…you have just defined your deadline!  You’ve also defined how you should live!  So why wait until the last minute?

Find And Restore Yourself–Are You On A Clear Path And Headed Towards God?Restoring You To Yourself: Life has a way of messing with us and our senses.  We get caught up in the clutter and can quickly get dragged down by a barrage of bad news, bad behavior, bad attitudes, and bad content in movies, media, and social circles.  We seem to be living in a Godless society. Is it any wonder we see so much hate, despair, selfishness, and indifference?  What happened to our moral code and moral compass?  How do we try to turn the tide and correct the path we walk?  Let’s start with some honest self-assessment!  Me first. Remember:1.  Masks deceive myself and others.2.  I am not a product of circumstance.  I am a product of my own decisions.3.  Leadership is my choice that lies between stimulus and response!4.  When the root is sound, the fruit is abundant!5.  Grace is God’s divine assistance to help me realize my purpose and calling in life. Then “Start, Stop and Keep:”1.  Start with the end in mind.  I know I wish to be with God when I leave this Earth and I know I need to start a daily process to get me there!2.  Stop doing anything that keeps me from being closer to God!3.  Keep my commitments, especially to myself!  Decide, whom do I serve? Now, how about you? It is said that empathy is to understand someone emotionally and intellectually!  So here is the secret sauce for restoring you to yourself…Remember, we are all created in God’s image so see Christ in everyone you meet and be Christ to everyone you meet! I gotta say, I like the new you already!!!​