Junco trying to keep warm Picture by Mark Rusch.
The Holy Spirit inspired our blog.
Wednesday of the Fifth Week in Extraordinary Time
Refrain: The mouth of the just murmurs wisdom.
Commit to the LORD your way;
trust in him, and he will act.
He will make justice dawn for you like the light;
bright as the noonday shall be your vindication.
Refrain:
The mouth of the just man tells of wisdom
and his tongue utters what is right.
The law of his God is in his heart,
Refrain:
The salvation of the just is from the LORD;
he is their refuge in time of distress.
And the LORD helps them and delivers them;
he delivers them from the wicked and saves them,
because they take refuge in him.
Emphasis mine: PS 37:5-6, 30-31, 39-40
Where is your refuge?
I hadn’t thought about this until today; it’s another reason I enjoy writing our blogs.
I am sure you know the answer: My refuge is with the Triune God. I turn to God for Peace when things start to turn upside down, and yes, there are times when things turn upside down. Life is no different for me than it is for you.
As I think about it, turning to God for my refuge makes a ton of good sense.
Turning to God as my refuge is happening right now.
Why?
On Saturday, I received two three-ring binders with our family genealogy. True to form, I started thinking of all I had to do to scan and then put these into a book format.
I started to think, satan, I didn’t have a clue how I would pull all of this off, and I started losing my Joy and Peace.
When I got up from bed this morning, I, now we, decided we would write the first draft of our blog as we always do on Monday. We would then do as we always do during the day, and if there was time, we would start working on the family genealogy.
Why are we telling this story?
We wanted to give a simple life experience just to demonstrate how satan works in our lives all the time, every day. I took refuge in God when we decided to do what God wanted me to do all day, and I have faith that our new project will be completed when God wants it done.
Easy!
Peace!
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. Pocket Paperback at Amazon is $8.89
We pray you will spend $8.89 on the pocket edition or $ 7.99 on the Kindle edition to fully understand why Psalm 91 is so powerful and spend a few minutes each day saying this prayer to protect your family.
Sidebar:
Wow!
Next week is Ash Wednesday. I can’t believe how quickly Christmas, New Year’s, and now Lent has arrived.
This will be a fast year.
As many of you know, Lent is one of my favorite seasons. If used properly, it can change your life.
I have found that if I continue my Lenten goal, I will change my life from this point on. The reason this works for me is that when I say I will do something, I know satan is going to try everything and anything to get me to stop and go back to my old ways.
It took me three Lents to stop smoking; I finally stopped when I pictured Jesus on the Cross and told myself, “If Jesus could have nails driven through His Hands and Feet and hang on the cross for three hours slowly suffocating, I can stop smoking, or whatever it is this Lent I am trying to do.”
As the lents went by, I continued doing what I had said I would do in previous lents, and I noticed I was in greater control of my now our life.
I was able to verify this in the Jail. The men I have met are out of control; in some areas of their lives. They are addicted to booze/drugs, for example, living life the easy way. They are not taking responsibility for their actions, and until they do, how can their lives change?
They can’t!
We mention Lent to the men and its benefits, and all we get back is a glassy look of unbelief.
Life is simple, but it’s also a slow process. At eighty-three, I see the fruit of all the years I took lent seriously.
Are you looking for an idea?
Try saying the prayers we have discussed over the past two years, adding one new prayer each week until you have learned them all.
For example:
First week: Say the “Nine.” Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Generosity, Faithfulness, Gentleness, Self-Control.
Second Week: “Tell satan to, “Get behind me satan, Come Holy Spirit,” and the “Nine. “
Third week: “Thank you, Father, for the…….. DIFFICULTY of……., I know you will take care of me,” until you smile, the “Nine,” and “Get behind me, satan. Come, Holy Spirit.”
Fourth Week: Say the Weeeeee prayer for every interaction you had that day after the interaction. For example, ” Weeeeee made a great meal,” the “Nine,” “Get behind me, Satan, come, Holy Spirit,” and “Thank You Father for the …..DIFFICULTY of…… I know You will take care of me.”.
Fifth week: “Thank you, Father,” for every positive thing in your life that day. For example, you got up, had food, a warm house, etc., the “Nine,” “Get behind me, Satan, come, Holy Spirit,” Thank You Father for the….. DIFFICULTY of…., I know you will take care of me” and “Weeeeeee.”
Sixth week: You will now be Fantastic, so tell people you are Fantastic, the “Nine.” “Get behind me, Satan. Come, Holy Spirit.” “Thank You, Father, for the….. DIFFICULTY of…., I know you will take care of me.” “Weeeeeeee.” and “Thank you, Father.”
As I look at what we typed, this would be an easy Lent, but coming out of Lent, you will be Fantastic now. That’s a Lent that won’t be forgotten.
Seventh week: I hope you will start the day with the prayer, “This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad, ” plus all the above prayers.
Yes, I know there are not seven weeks in Lent. We just wanted to push you a little harder.
By the way, we had an email from Leslie:
Hello Mr. Prince,
I have been enjoying your blogs and all the blogs at A Catholic Moment for a few years now.
I have been saying/ singing, “This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad” when I awake and throughout the day since you suggested it many, many months ago, and it brings me peace, joy, and reminds me how connected I am to the Lord.
We didn’t mention Psalm 91 because we pray you are already protecting your family with this powerful prayer.
If you want more information on the prayers, email me.
Picture:
I went out to fill the bird feeder yesterday morning in the record cold and almost stepped on this junco! All puffed up, just trying to keep warm. It flew up to the feeder after I went back inside. Then departed. Picture by Mark Rusch
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 it in our next book, God Thoughts 2024, along with your name and any comments in the Blog.
