Sunrise at Portland Headlight. Cape Elizabeth, Maine Picture by Jennifer Hansen
The Holy Spirit inspired our blog.
Feast of Saint John, Apostle and evangelist
Beloved:
What was from the beginning,
what we have heard,
what we have seen with our eyes,
what we looked upon
and touched with our hands
concerns the Word of life —
for the life was made visible;
we have seen it and testify to it
and proclaim to you the eternal life
that was with the Father and was made visible to us—
what we have seen and heard
we proclaim now to you,
so that you too may have fellowship with us;
for our fellowship is with the Father
and with his Son, Jesus Christ.
We are writing this so that our joy may be complete.
Emphasis mine 1 Jn 1:1-4
The Old Testament reveals that God is All-Powerful, omnipotent, a word I never knew the meaning of, but now I do.
When Jesus was born, mankind could see and touch God; touching God had never happened in the Old Testament.
Jesus, who was All-Powerful, came as a baby, needing our love and care. Jesus humbled Himself by coming as one of us.
We can become extraordinary like Jesus if we fully believe Jesus is our Lord and Savior.
One of our problems is we won’t humble ourselves, as Jesus did, and do the will of God our Father; we prefer to do our will and let the chips fall where they may.
The change to humility appears impossible, satan, but in reality, it is very easy once we start that approach to life, and once we start building a relationship with God, life does change for the better.
Humility means we have to listen to the whisper of the Holy Spirit,
and
Listening to The Holy Spirit becomes easier once you turn off all the outside noise.
We can’t see the Physical Jesus as St. John did, but we can see God’s creation in every person and created things around us, and this knowledge in itself lets us know God created everything around us because there are no copies. Every tree, snowflake, river, person, etc., is different and unique.
Only God could and still does this.
For 2024, why not try to turn off the noise in your life and find the Joy of doing the will of God your Father by listening to the whisper of the Holy Spirit?
Join Team Jesus:
If you would like to protect your family, dumb question, pray Psalm 91 verbally.
My life changed after reading Peggy Joyce Ruth’s book, Psalm 91, God’s Shield of Protection, Military Version. Every day, I say this powerful prayer for everyone in our life, including the writers and readers of A Catholic Moment.
Sidebar:
I must confess that I, yes I have had, past tense, a problem with Mary. When I grew up, all the attention seemed centered on Mary, and I felt Jesus was second. This greatly bothered me because of the Cross.
As I grew older, I came to a clearer understanding of Mary and realized She performs a vital function.
Jesus said He would return the second time as King of the Universe.
Sooooooo
Jesus can’t come back to try and get people back in line, if you will.
Mary can!
And
Mary has!
Mike, our oldest son, sent me the following information on”Our Lady of Guadalupe,” which I found fascinating and was encouraged by the Holy Spirit to pass along; this is just one of many times Mary has come down to earth to get us to worship her Son, Father, and Holy Spirit more fully.
Mike wrote; One of the things I love about the Catholic Church is its history. Part of the history includes 2,000+ years of recognizing Authentic Christian People (Saints). Today, the church celebrates Mary as “Our Lady of Guadalupe”. Associated with the Saint is the Tilma, now located in Mexico City and visited by millions of pilgrims yearly. Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared in Mexico as the pregnant Mother of God to Blessed Juan Diego, an Aztec Indian, on December 9, 10, and 12, 1531. She left a Miraculous Image of her appearance on his cactus fiber cloak, or Tilma, which still exists today for all to see in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City. The Tilma has been looked at by NASA scientists, Kodak, and Nobel Prize winners, and still, there is no explanation other than God’s divine work. I thought you might enjoy it!! Here are a few amazing facts about the Our Lady of Guadalupe image:
- The image is proven not to be painted by human hands
- The image and fabric have miraculously lasted in the original condition for nearly 500 years
- The weak cactus fiber, of which the Tilma was made, should have decomposed within 15-20 years of being woven
- No natural or animal mineral colorings, or paint, are found on the image
- The image itself is iridescent and cannot be produced by hand
- Mary stands on a crescent moon, the same crescent moon that was in the sky on the day of her apparition
- Mary’s mantle is a constellation map, the same constellations that were in the sky on the day of her apparition
- The constellations tell the story of the Gospel with the arrangement of “Leo” in the womb of “Virgo”
- Our Lady’s garment is a topographic map of the geographic location of her apparition
- On Mary’s neck is a small black cross, identifying her with the Catholic missionary priests
- Over her womb on her dress is a four-petal flower—the Aztec symbol of life and divinity
- In the image, Mary is “clothed with the sun” with “the moon at her feet,” as described in Revelation 12:1
- A doctor once heard a heartbeat coming from the image when he placed a stethoscope over the womb
- The eyes in the image have the refractory characteristics of human eyes
- Mary’s eyes, when examined through a microscope, reflect the images of the witnesses present at the Tilma’s unveiling, including Juan Diego and the bishop
The link below offers more information.
3 Amazing Stories about the Miraculous Tilma of Our Lady of Guadalupe
Thank all of you who have supported our blog in 2023.
Your pictures and comments have been a real positive in my life. We have always had pictures; at one point, we were down to three pictures. We prayed for more; we had a flood of pictures, our prayer was answered. The great thing is we have had photos from many different people, not just one or two people, and different. Countries.
Because of your comments and pictures, this is truly OUR blog, The Holy Spirit, you and me.
Thank you.
Gail and I pray you and your family will have a 2024 filled with Love, Joy, Peace, and great health.
Picture:
Sunrise at Portland Headlight. Cape Elizabeth, Maine Picture by Jennifer Hansen
Note: Gail and I saw forty-eight years of sunrises at Fort Williams; it is drop-dead beautiful.
Please keep Snapping!
If you want a copy of the prayers we discussed, email me.
fprince101@gmail.com
Remember, if you want to submit a picture, no people, please, because we have to get permission from that person to use their photograph.
By sending your picture, you consent to allow us to reprint that picture in our next book, God Thoughts 2023, with your name and any comments in the Blog.
