How to witness with the little things--advice I gave 7 years ago

St. John Paul II: “No believer in Christ, no institution of the Church can avoid this supreme duty: to proclaim Christ to all peoples.” Little things mean a lot. Say grace when you're eating in a restaurant, the same as you would at home. Be visible in your thankfulness for everyday gifts. Wear a cross and be prepared to tell others your testimony if asked--just be sure it's about Jesus and not just you. Some people place a bumper sticker for their church, para-church organization or Christian media. It's especially good if there's a bit of rust or a dent you'd like to cover. I found our local station (820 a.m. in Upper Arlington, OH) because of a bumper sticker. How refreshing to find inspired and interesting talk radio by women. Be prepared to give a pleasant greeting--God bless you. Have a blessed day. James Isenhart always greets me (on FB) with something short and inspirational. He's doing something small, yet huge, for Jesus reaching people who maybe haven't had a kind word all day. Adrienne Ross (on FB) is another--although she has many topics, she never fails to glorify God after a wonderful service at her church. When we're not commiserating about politics, I love the resources Joan Shaw Turrentine (blog friend) directs me to. My cousin Gayle never fails to find just the right Bible verse to encourage me in e-mail. And when you ask for prayers, I always stop right away and do that. You benefit us all by asking--don't be shy.

Praying for the president and the election

Today I was thinking about the millions and millions of people praying for President Trump and the nation. It's really amazing. Maybe 70 million. Maybe not since FDR and D-Day has a president brought so many to this awareness that our country can be destroyed, but this time, from within. Franklin Delano Roosevelt's D-Day Prayer - Word Foundations  Check out this website for more articles and prayer concerns about what happened on November 3-4.

Another prayer group is Intercessors for America, TRUMP TEAM HAS A LEGAL STRATEGY, WE HAVE A PRAYER STRATEGY | Intercessors for America (ifapray.org)

Many Democrats are Christians. I wonder how they are praying? "Dear Lord, please let this election be legal so we can kill more babies in the name of women's health." or "Heavenly Father, Guide our chosen one who is under a black cloud for his activities with his family in China with the CCP."

If you have a spare prayer this Thanksgiving . . .

The last time we saw Dan was at the funeral of a mutual friend in 2018.  He and Bob used to work together—I only saw his wife at the wonderful Christmas parties.  They had the most beautiful children—dark, Italian and very well behaved.  According to her story, Dan is now disabled and she has arthritis (plus another surgery from 20 years ago over which she has battled insurance companies and doctors without satisfaction).  So she hired a company to rake and take away the leaves.  On Tuesday.  Well, if you live in the tsunami lane we’ve experienced the last 24 hours, you know that all the neighbors’ leaves are now in their yard, and the money and frustration were wasted.  She said this, which is why I’m asking you to pray for this stranger even I don’t know well—and I suspect there is a hidden message in here for her adult children and grandchildren, so you can throw that in also:

“There are days when I just feel like jumping off a bridge and this is one of them. Last week a hit-and-run driver bashed our only car and took off leaving us to deal with the expense and effort to get it fixed. By "us" I mean me because I have to do everything, large and small, by myself now==which isn't all that different than what I have always been stuck with. All I do is work: cook, clean, fix stuff, laundry, yard work, and so on into infinity. If I had known I was going to spend my entire life getting stuck doing the scut-work nobody else wants to bother with so they can enjoy their lives unencumbered by it all I'd have taken that jump a long time ago.”

A simple prayer: Jesus, here I am, it’s Norma

When people ask how our family is doing in this difficult time, I usually mumble something like, just pray for a miracle, that's really all we need. That said, so many people have been Jesus with skin on we're so very grateful. Cards, e-mails, meals, invitations, even visits from complete strangers. Even the really awkward conversations that quickly become a tale of woe about their own problems, are meant well.  I read a story this morning about prayer, I'd like to share (from Magnificat, Nov. 2019, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2019, pp. 248-249)

Cardinal Nguyen Van Thuan (d. 2002) was a prisoner of the north Vietnamese for 13 years, and after his liberation people suggested he must have had a lot of time to pray. He told them he was often so exhausted from the confinement and silence, he couldn't say a single word, then he told this story.

"There was an older man named Jim who would go to church every day at noon for just a few minutes, and then he would leave. The sacristan was very curious about Jim's daily routine, and one day he stopped him to ask: "Why do you come here every day?" "I come to pray," Jim answered.

"That's impossible! What prayer can you say in 2 minutes?"

"I am an old, ignorant man. I pray to God in my own way."

"But what do you say?"

"I say: 'Jesus, here I am, it's Jim.' And then I leave." After some years, Jim became ill and had to go to the hospital, where he was admitted to the ward for the poor. When it seemed that Jim was dying, a priest asked, "Jim, tell us how it is that from the day you came to this ward everything changed for the better? How is it that the patients have become happier, more content, and friendlier?"

"I don't know. When I could walk around, I would try to visit everyone. I greeted them, talked a bit with them. When I couldn't get out of bed I called everyone over to me to make them laugh, to make them happy. With Jim they are always happy!"

"But why are YOU happy?"

"Well, aren't you happy when you receive a visitor?" asked Jim.

"Of course, but we have never seen anyone come to visit you."

"When I came here I asked you for 2 chairs. One was for you, Father, and one was reserved for my guest."

"But what guest?" the priest asked.

"I used to go to church to visit Jesus every day at noon. But when I couldn't do that anymore, Jesus came here."

"Jesus comes to visit you? What does he say?"

"He says: 'Jim, here I am, it's Jesus!'" Before dying, Jim smiled and gestured with his hand toward the chair next to his bed, as if inviting someone to sit down. He smiled for the last time and closed his eyes.

The Cardinal continued. When my strength failed and I could not even pray, I repeated: "Jesus, here I am, it's Francis." Joy and consolation would come to me and I experienced Jesus responding: "Francis, here I am, it's Jesus."

With a little help from friends

We'll be heading to the hospital in a few hours to visit our son  as he continues down (up?) the difficult road after brain surgery on Tuesday. We've been overwhelmed with the prayers and kindness of his friends, our friends and total strangers. A neighbor I don’t know well just dropped by with a quiche for supper.  It is a huge comfort!

So I want to tell you a story from way back--maybe 1987, don't remember for sure. As the mother of teens, so close in age and so beautiful people used to think they were twins, I was at my wit's end and couldn't pray. So in addition to feeling like a total failure as a mother, I assumed I wasn't being a very good Christian either. No prayer could slip pass my clenched teeth.

At church one Sunday I ran into Judy Gibeaut and in about 30 seconds summed up my rage and frustration. She gave me a hug, told me not to worry about praying, that she'd do it for me so I could just focus on putting one foot in front of the other. I think she did call it intercessory prayer, but whatever she said, I've never forgotten it.

I'm not doing much praying since October 1 when this hit us like a ton of bricks, so we're relying on others. After so many years of Sunday worship, baptisms, Bible school, Sunday School, funerals and weddings, I think I've got the "Lord's Prayer" [Our Father] down pat--not very good at memorizing. Tertullian, 2nd-3rd century theologian, wrote that the Our Father was a summary of the Gospel so we can cover a lot of territory with that!  https://sites.google.com/site/aquinasstudybible/home/matthew-commentary/tertullian-on-the-our-father

Today’s message from Vantage Point Devotional

“A January 2005 article in TIME magazine reported: “Studies show that the more a believer incorporates religion into daily living—attending services, reading Scripture, praying—the better off he or she appears to be on two measures of happiness: frequency of positive emotions and overall sense of satisfaction with life.”

Are you a happy believer?  The psalm that contains today’s key verse begins with the confession of a very sad person.  Several times, he asks, “Why are you cast down, o my soul?” But he answers his distressing call with hope, praise and prayer.

Among answers to depression given in a 2016 article in Psychology Today, are to resist the urge to dwell on the past, and focus on what is going right.  The article suggests that one incorporate structure into every day. So the TIME magazine article had it right: attending services, reading Scripture, praying! And so did the psalmist: He sings into the night. The question, are you a happy believer, is worth repeating. More, it is worth doing something about. There are many unhappy people in government if the nightly news is any indicator. Pray that they would find the Lord first of all, and then, that they would find the night song in their souls.

Recommended for Further Reading: Philippians 4:4-9 “

St. Patrick’s Breastplate

Something very evil is circling the globe through witchcraft.  According to Huffington Post, witches are asked to chant on a specific day for Trump’s downfall or impeachment. Wonder to whom or what they are appealing?  Christians are being asked to pray the Breastplate of St. Patrick prayer to protect him. This request was also suggested for the Kavanaugh hearings.

I arise today through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity, through belief in the Threeness, through confession of the Oneness of the Creator of creation.
I arise today through the strength of Christ with His Baptism,
through the strength of His Crucifixion with His Burial,
through the strength of His Resurrection with His Ascension,
through the strength of His descent for the Judgment of Doom.
I arise today through the strength of the love of Cherubim
in obedience of Angels, in the service of the Archangels,
in hope of resurrection to meet with reward,
in prayers of Patriarchs, in predictions of Prophets,
in preachings of Apostles, in faiths of Confessors,
in innocence of Holy Virgins, in deeds of righteous men.
I arise today, through the strength of Heaven:
light of Sun, brilliance of Moon, splendour of Fire,
speed of Lightning, swiftness of Wind, depth of Sea,
stability of Earth, firmness of Rock.
I arise today, through God's strength to pilot me:
God's might to uphold me, God's wisdom to guide me,
God's eye to look before me, God's ear to hear me,
God's word to speak for me, God's hand to guard me,
God's way to lie before me, God's shield to protect me,
God's host to secure me:
against snares of devils, against temptations of vices,
against inclinations of nature, against everyone who
shall wish me ill, afar and anear, alone and in a crowd.
I summon today all these powers between me (and these evils):
against every cruel and merciless power that may oppose my body and my soul, against incantations of false prophets,
against black laws of heathenry,
against false laws of heretics, against craft of idolatry,
against spells of witches and smiths and wizards,
against every knowledge that endangers man's body and soul.
Christ to protect me today
against poison, against burning,
against drowning, against wounding,
so that there may come abundance of reward.
Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in me,
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ in breadth, Christ in length, Christ in height,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.
I arise today through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity, through belief in the Threeness, through confession of the Oneness of the Creator of creation.
Salvation is of the Lord. Salvation is of the Lord. Salvation is of Christ. May Thy Salvation, O Lord, be ever with us.

Here it is in song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=21&v=zJx_Lu4PymE

A prayer to Saint Lucy for healing in the eye

Asking a saint for intercessory prayer isn't any different than asking any other Christian friend, Catholic sources tell me. Our son has a serious eye problem, a stroke in his right eye that may leave him blind. So I'm asking all readers to pray for healing, and Saint Lucy also, the patron saint of the blind and those with sight problems. ("When we pray to the saints we are using the word “pray” meaning “to ask”. This use of the word can be seen in archaic English usage. So in Shakespeare’s plays a character might say, “I pray you good sir, lend me a ducat.” He uses the word “pray” to mean “to ask.” So when we pray to saints we are asking them to pray with us and for us in the same way that we might ask a friend, family member or fellow parishioner to pray for us. Longenecker)  Part 4 of Catechism, Sec. 1, Ch. 2, Art. 3 "Guides for Prayer")