My Daily Nourishment

Just because someone doesn’t love you the way you want them to
doesn’t mean they don’t love you with all they have.

Jim and Edna were patients in a mental hospital. One day while
they were walking past the hospital swimming pool, Jim
suddenly jumped into the deep end, sank to the bottom, and
stayed there.

Edna promptly jumped in, swam to the bottom, and pulled Jim
out.

When the hospital director learned of Edna’s heroic act, he
ordered her to be discharged from the hospital, as he now
considered her to be mentally stable.

When the director went to tell Edna, he said, “Edna, I have
good news and bad news. The good news is you’re being
discharged. Since you were able to rationally respond to a
crisis by jumping in and saving the life of another patient, I
have concluded that you are of sound mind. The bad news is
that Jim, the patient you saved, hung himself in the bathroom
with his bathrobe belt right after you saved him. I am so
sorry, but he’s dead.”

Edna replied, “He didn’t hang himself, I put him there to dry.
How soon can I go home?”

I wanted to send the above joke because of the introductory
line, which is how I received it. It really points out the
dangers of making assumptions on very little evidence.

~Submitted by Marjorie Chuppa, Canada~
www.mountainwings.com

Do you know the legend of the Cherokee Indian youth’s rite of
passage?

His father takes him into the forest, blindfolds him and
leaves him alone.

He is required to sit on a stump the whole night and not
remove the blindfold until the rays of the morning sun shine
through it.

He cannot cry out for help to anyone. Once he survives the
night, he is a MAN.

He cannot tell the other boys of this experience because each
lad must come into manhood on his own.

The boy is naturally terrified. He can hear all kinds of
noises. Wild beasts must surely be all around him. Maybe even
some human might do him harm. The wind blew the grass and
earth and shook his stump, but he sat stoically, never
removing the blindfold. It would be the only way he could
become a man!

Finally, after a horrific night the sun appeared and he
removed his blindfold. It was then that he discovered his
father sitting on the stump next to him. He had been at watch
the entire night, protecting his son from harm.

We, too, are never alone. Even when we don’t know it, our
Heavenly Father is watching over us, sitting on the stump
beside us. When trouble comes, all we have to do is reach out
to Him.

~Author Unknown~

On the Way to Heaven

One day a Jerry, Perry, and Cletus were on their way to heaven.

God told them the stairs to heaven were 1,000 steps and on every step he was going to tell them a joke. If they laughed they would not be able to get to heaven.

So Jerry made it to the 45th step and laughed.

Perry made it to the 200th step and laughed.

But Cletus made it to the 999th step and laughed even before god told his joke.

God asked, “Why did you laugh I haven’t even told the joke yet”

Cletus responded, “I know I just now got the first one!!!”

www.arcamax.com

Here’s an easy and cheap way to lower blood pressure:

One of the best ways to live a long and healthy life is to keep
your blood pressure within normal levels. It turns out that one
way to do that is to go to church every week, reports Reuters of
research from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention in Atlanta, Ga.

The study: In this large, multiethnic study of nearly 14,500
American men and women age 20 years and older who were part of
the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, the
participants’ blood pressure was taken at home and in mobile
examination centers.

They were also asked how frequently they attended church or
religious services.

The answers:
40% attended once a week or more.
28% worshiped less than once a week.
33% said they never participated in services.

The results: Lead researchers, Dr. R. Frank Gillum and Dr.
Deborah D. Ingram, found that those who attended religious
services at least once a week had lower blood pressure and a
lower prevalence of high blood pressure, compared with people
who never attended.

Specifically, the once-a-week churchgoers had systolic (the top
number) readings that were 1.46 mm Hg lower than those who never
attended, while those who attended more than once a week had
systolic levels 3.03 mm Hg lower than those who never attended,
reports Reuters.

The study findings were published in the journal Psychosomatic
Medicine, 2006.
–From the Editors at Netscape

This is forwarded email and I don’t want to delete it without sharing to you!!! very interesting story!!

Mom Did You See It?
===================

Barbara was driving her six-year-old son, Benjamin, to his piano
lesson. They were late, and Barbara was beginning to think she
should have cancelled it. There was always so much to do, and
Barbara, a night-duty nurse at the local hospital, had recently
worked extra shifts. She was tired. The sleet storm and icy
roads added to her tension. Maybe she should turn the car around.

“Mom!” Ben cried, “Look!”

Just ahead a car had lost control on a patch of ice.
As Barbara tapped the brakes, the other car spun wildly,
rolled over, then crashed sideways into a telephone pole.

Barbara pulled over, skidded to a stop and threw open her door.
Thank goodness she was a nurse, she might be able to help these
unfortunate passengers.

Then she paused. What about Ben? She couldn’t take him with
her; little boys shouldn’t see scenes like the one she anticipated.

But was it safe to leave him alone? What if their car was hit
from behind? For a brief moment Barbara considered going on her
way. Someone else was sure to come along. No!
“Ben, honey, promise me you’ll stay in the car!”

“I will, Mommy,” he said as she ran, slipping and sliding,
toward the crash site.

It was worse than she’d feared. Two girls of high school age
were in the car. One, the blonde on the passenger side, was
dead, killed on impact. The driver, however was still breathing.

She was unconscious and pinned in the wreckage.
Barbara quickly applied pressure to the wound in the teenager’s
head while her practiced eye catalogued the other injuries.
A broken leg, maybe two, along with probable internal bleeding.
But if help came soon, the girl would live.

A trucker had pulled up and was calling for help on his cellular
phone. Soon Barbara heard the ambulance sirens. A few moments
later she surrendered her lonely post to rescue workers.

“Good job,” one said as he examined the driver’s wounds,
“You probably saved her life, ma’am.” Perhaps. But as Barbara
walked back to her car a feeling of sadness overwhelmed her,
especially for the family of the girl who had died.

Their lives would never be the same. Oh God, why do such things
have to happen? Slowly Barbara opened her car door.

What should she tell Benjamin?
He was staring at the crash site, his blue eyes huge.

“Mom,” he whispered, “did you see it?”

“See what, Honey?” she asked.

“The angel, Mom! He came down from the sky while you were
running to the car. And he opened the door, and he took that
girl out.”

Barbara’s eyes filled with tears. “Which door, Ben?”

“The passenger side. He took the girl’s hand, and they floated
up to heaven together.”

“What about the driver?”

Ben shrugged. “I didn’t see anyone else.”

Later Barbara was able to meet the families of the victims.
They expressed their gratitude for the help she had provided.
Barbara was able to give them something more — Ben’s vision.

There was no way he could have known by ordinary means who was
in the car or what had happened to either of the passengers.
Nor could the passenger door have been opened. Barbara had seen
it’s tangle of immovable steel herself. Yet Ben’s account
brought consolation to a grieving family. Their daughter was
safe in heaven, and they would see her again.

~Author Unknown~
www.mountainwings.com

JUST PERFECT

When anyone does obey what he has said, God’s love comes to perfection in him. – 2 John.: 5

I once heard a man give a testimony on the virtues of faithfulness and humility. He went on to share many instances in his life where he exhibited the virtue of faithfulness. Based on the spontaneity and insightfulness of his testimony, it was evident the Lord was working wonders in his marriage, his business, community service and prayer life.
It was an inspiring story, indeed. But what made his testimony more remarkable was that not once did he mention anything about the virtue of humility.
Here was a man who was a living testament of God’s love coming to perfection in him. Here was a man, through the grace of God, who has put away the old self of his former way of life. He has put on a new self, transformed by the Power of God’s Spirit working in him. By not speaking about humility this gentleman spoke volumes of how evident the virtue was in his new life in Jesus.
We have been called to be imitators of God. Jesus even tells us to be perfect just as God is perfect.
Tall order, huh?
Good news is, we can if only we let Him do the work in us. Erwin R.

REFLECTION:
You are the clay. God is the potter. Will you let him mold you into a new creation?

Lord, create in me a clean heart. Put a new and steadfast spirit within me that I may be transformed and ready to do your every purpose. Amen.

ONE TAKEN, ONE LEFT

Predictions of the end of the world are as old as humankind. While approaching year 2000, predictions about the end were common. Even now certain people still live more in the end time than in the reality of today. As the liturgical years moves towards its end, we will have several Gospel readings about the end. They are all disturbing and puzzling. It is not clear whether Jesus is speaking here about the horrible days of Jerusalem’s destruction which happened in the year 70, or of the end of the world. Maybe it’s about both. There are at least two important messages in today’s passage. The first is that the horrible event comes without warning. And that has a reason. When we would know the day of the end of the world or the hour of the end of our life, we might live an indifferent life. We would not care whether we do good or bad, because we plan to “convert” just a day before and go to confession. What a life that would be! Unfortunately many live as they would never die. Jesus could have told us the exact time but he did not. He urges us to be always prepared and ready. The saying about the body and the vultures is a common Jewish proverb which means everything will happen when certain conditions are fulfilled. “In His time!” we say. The second point is that two people who work or live together would not automatically both saved. Here is a hidden warning. Intimacy with a good person is no guarantee for our salvation. Each one will be judged individually. There are young people who excuse themselves from going regularly to church because the Lola goes every day to Mass. There are husbands who leave “being pious” to their wives. We cannot discharge our duty to God by proxy.
This should not scare us. As long as we try to listen well to all of Christ’s teachings, do the will of the Father and be prepared for the great encounter with the Lord, we could look forward to this moment with great expectation and not with fear. That is why we pray after the Lord’s Prayer, “protect us from all anxiety as we wait in joyful hope for the coming of our Savior Jesus Christ.” Fr. Rudy H.

REFLECTION QUESTION:

In what areas of life do I have to change to apply the warnings of Jesus in today’s Gospel?

Lord, like so many I tend to live as if life would go o forever. Like so many I ask others to pray for me so that I feel secure in my weaknesses and sins. You tell me today to be prepared and take responsibility of my own salvation. I needed this lesson very much. With your help I will be able to live more conscious and responsible.

St. Elizabeth of Hungary, widow, pray for us.

1st READING

2 John 4-9

John encourages his readers to live according to the truth that has been proclaimed to them and according to the commandments of God. This is what it means to be a disciple. In doing this we should always be alert to the movement of the evil one seeking to destroy us and lead us astray. It is sensible to be aware of the enemy of the human race and his minions in order to keep ourselves as far away from him and his works as possible. Let us pray for the grace to live our lives according to these principles.

4 I rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth just as we were commanded by the Father. 5 But now, Lady, I ask you, not as though I were writing a new commandment but the one we have had from the beginning: let us love one another. 6 For this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, as you heard from the beginning, in which you should walk. 7 Many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh; such is the deceitful one and the antiChrist. 8 Look to yourselves that you do not lose what we worked for but may receive a full recompense. 9 Anyone who is so “progressive” as not to remain in the teaching of the Christ does not have God; whoever remains in the teaching has the Father and the Son.

P S A L M

R: Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!

1 Blessed are they whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the LORD. (R) 2 Blessed are they who observe his decrees, who seek him with all their heart. (R) 10 With all my heart I seek you; let me not stray from your commands. (R) 11 Within my heart I treasure your promise, that I may not sin against you. (R) 17 Be good to your servant, that I may live and keep your words. (R) 18 Open my eyes, that I may consider the wonders of your law. (R)

G O S P E L

Luke 17:26-37

The story of Noah, whether truth or fiction, holds many lessons for us. It is true that disasters such as floods can occur at any time. We never know if we might be victims of one of these. Therefore it is important for us to be ready to give an account of our lives at any time. The wise person will be ready to meet the Lord face to face tomorrow, no matter how healthy or invincible they may feel today! Wisdom takes into account more than the mere immediate circumstances and looks to take into account all the various possibilities that might reasonably be expected. Are we wise or foolish in the way that we are preparing to meet tomorrow?

26 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be in the days of the Son of Man; 27 they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage up to the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. 28 Similarly, as it was in the days of Lot: they were eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building; 29 on the day when Lot left Sodom, fire and brimstone rained from the sky to destroy them all. 30 So it will be on the day the Son of Man is revealed. 31 On that day, a person who is on the housetop and whose belongings are in the house must not go down to get them, and likewise a person in the field must not return to what was left behind. 32 Remember the wife of Lot. 33 Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses it will save it. 34 I tell you, on that night there will be two people in one bed; one will be taken, the other left. 35 And there will be two women grinding meal together; one will be taken, the other left.” 36 37 They said to him in reply, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, “Where the body is, there also the vultures will gather.”

my reflections
think: The wise person will be ready to meet the Lord face to face tomorrow, no matter how healthy or invincible they may feel today!