Theotokos Handmaids

The Church, Christ’s Mystical Body, is birthed from the Blood and Water flowing from His Side.

childofgod — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 11:35:45 +0000

The Blood and Water from His Side

Liturgy of the Hours Office of Readings St. John Chrysostom

Early Church Father and Doctor of the Church This reading is an excerpt of The Catecheses (Cat. 3, 13-19; SC 50, 174-177) by St. John Chrysostom, one of the greatest Early Church Fathers of the 5th Century. It is used in the Roman Church’s Office of Readings for Good Friday with the accompanying biblical reading of Hebrews 9: 11-28 and is a powerful meditation on the passion. But it also tells us much about the connection between the passion and the sacraments of Baptism and the Eucharist which flow from the paschal mystery and connect us to its saving power.

If we wish to understand the power of Christ’s blood, we should go back to the ancient account of its prefiguration in Egypt. “Sacrifice a lamb without blemish”, commandedMoses, “and sprinkle its blood on your doors”. If we were to ask him what he meant, and how the blood of an irrational beast could possibly save men endowed with reason, his answer would be that the saving power lies not in the blood itself, but in the fact that it is a sign of the Lord’s blood. In those days, when the destroying angel saw the blood on the doors he did not dare to enter, so how much less will the devil approach now when he sees, not that figurative blood on the doors, but the true blood on the lips of believers, thedoors of the temple of Christ. If you desire further proof of the power of this blood, remember where it came from, how it ran down from the cross, flowing from the Master’s side. The gospel records that when Christ was dead, but still hung on the cross, a soldier came and pierced his side with a lance and immediately there poured out water andblood. Now the water was a symbol of baptism and the blood, of the holy eucharist. The soldier pierced the Lord’s side, he breached the wall of the sacred temple, and I have found the treasure and made it my own. So also with the lamb: the Jews sacrificed the victim and I have been saved by it. “There flowed from his side water and blood”. Beloved, do not pass over this mystery without thought; it has yet another hidden meaning, which I will explain to you. I said that water and blood symbolized baptism and the holy Eucharist. From these two sacraments the Church is born: from baptism, “the cleansing water that gives rebirth and renewal through the Holy Spirit”, and from the holy Eucharist. Since the symbols of baptism and the Eucharist flowed from his side, it was from his side that Christ fashioned the Church, as he had fashioned Eve from the side of Adam Moses gives a hint of this when he tells the story of the first man and makes him exclaim: “Bone from my bones and flesh from my flesh!” As God then took a rib from Adam’s side to fashion a woman, so Christ has given us blood and water from his side to fashion the Church. God took the rib whenAdam was in a deep sleep, and in the same way Christ gave us the blood andthe water after his own death. Do you understand, then, how Christ has united his bride to himself and what food he gives us all to eat? By one and the same food we are both brought into being and nourished. As a woman nourishes her child with her own blood and milk, so does Christ unceasingly nourish with his own blood those to whom he himself has given life.

St. John Chrysostom was a monk who was ordained a priest and ultimately, against his will, selected as Patriarch Archbishop of Constantinople. His call to repentance and moral reform won him the enmity of the nominally Christian Empress who got him deposed on trumped-up charges and exiled. But his preaching inspired the hearts of the people of Constantinople and won him the title “Chrysostom” meaning golden-mouthed. St. John Chrysostom, who died under the harsh conditions of his exile in 407, will always be remembered as one of the greatest of the Early Church Fathers and one of the greatest preachers of all time. His beautiful but always practical bible teaching has earned him the title “Doctor of the Church.”

Word of God Woman’s Prayer Breakfast Ann Arbor, MI 3/8/08

childofgod — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 11:16:27 +0000

Diane Walton shared some high points of her faith walk, some depths of her relationship with the Lord and as she shared the story of how she came to know the Holy Spirit and became part of the Word of God.

Daffodil Principle Prayer (MDC) March 4, 2008

childofgod — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 18:55:11 +0000

The “Daffodil Principle” really touched my heart. After I read it, the following prayer just seemed to blossom. My sense is that you who receive this are invited to personalize by inserting your name where the blank spaces are and whisper it out loud or better yet have someone pray it over you.

Prayer for Tuesday, March 4, 2008. (4th week of lent)

May the Spirit of the Living God, the Lord and giver of Life, pour His sweet anointing into the cup of your heart, fill you to overflowing with the oil of joy as you share at the Eucharistic Table of the Lord. When you have had your fill, may you follow God’s lead to the place which He has chosen for you, the one with your name inscribed in gold. Once you have taken your place, may you open up so that the Holy Spirit may unwrap (in a deeper and fuller way) HIs gifts for you from God the Father, part of the celebration of the Incarnation of His dearly Beloved Son. He has planned this moment from all eternity to be with you, his beloved child in whom He delights. The first gift is of God’s Wisdom. The second is God’s Understanding. The third is God’s Counsel. The fourth is God’s knowledge. The fifth is God’s piety. The sixth gift is fear of the Lord. And the 7th gift which includes all the grace you need for the rest of your life empowered by these gifts is fortitude (or courage).

If you surrender to the deep silence, you might just hear God the Father whisper “Celebrate the Incarnation” with me starting now and for all eternity. Holy Spirit Gifts: wisdom, understanding, counsel, knowledge, piety, fear of the Lord, and fortitude (or courage)

Fruits: Charity Joy Peace Patience Benignity Goodness

Long-suffering Mildness Faith Modesty Continency Chastity

Celebrate by allowing me to bring the gifts I have planted within you into the fullness of my fatherly blessing for those you love and for my Mystical Body.

“The Daffodil Principle” March 4, 2008

childofgod — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 18:22:22 +0000

Principles of Economics in God’s Kingdom

Course requirements:

completed course on recaliming identity as a Child of the One True God The Daffodil Principle http://www.atthewell.com/daffodils/

The story of “The Daffodil Principle” originally appeared nearly ten years ago in Jaroldeen Edwards’ book Celebration! It is now available for the first time as an illustrated gift book, with artwork by Anne Marie Oborn.Every year, high in the San Bernardino mountain range of Southern California, five acres of beautiful daffodils burst into bloom. Amazingly, this special spot, known as “The Daffodil Garden,” was planted by one person, Gene Bauer, one bulb at a time, beginning in 1958. The Willow Fire of 1999 destroyed the Bauer’s A-frame home, its surrounding shady trees and garden. Miraculously, the daffodil bulbs beneath the ground survived.

Several times my daughter had telephoned to say, “Mother, you must come to see the daffodils before they are over.” I wanted to go, but it was a two-hour drive from Laguna to Lake Arrowhead “I will come next Tuesday”, I promised a little reluctantly on her third call.

Next Tuesday dawned cold and rainy. Still, I had promised, and reluctantly I drove there. When I finally walked into Carolyn’s house I was welcomed by the joyful sounds of happy children. I delightedly hugged and greeted my grandchildren.

“Forget the daffodils, Carolyn! The road is invisible in these clouds and fog, and there is nothing in the world except you and these children that I want to see badly enough to drive another inch!”

My daughter smiled calmly and said, “We drive in this all the time, Mother.” ”Well, you won’t get me back on the road until it clears, and then I’m heading for home!” I assured her.

“But first we’re going to see the daffodils. It’s just a few blocks,” Carolyn said. “I’ll drive. I’m used to this.”

“Carolyn,” I said sternly, “please turn around.” “It’s all right, Mother, I promise. You will never forgive yourself if you miss this experience.”

After about twenty minutes, we turned onto a small gravel road and I saw a small church. On the far side of the church, I saw a hand lettered sign with an arrow that read, ” Daffodil Garden .” We got out of the car, each took a child’s hand, and I followed Carolyn down the path. Then, as we turned a corner, I looked up and gasped. Before me lay the most glorious sight.

It looked as though someone had taken a great vat of gold and poured it over the mountain peak and its surrounding slopes. There were five acres of flowers.

“Who did this?” I asked Carolyn. ”Just one woman,” Carolyn answered. “She lives on the property. That’s her home.” Carolyn pointed to a well-kept A -frame house, small and modestly sitting in the midst of all that glory. We walked up to the house.

On the patio, we saw a poster. “Answers to the Questions I Know You Are Asking”, was the headline. The first answer was a simple one. “50,000 bulbs,” it read. The second answer was, “One at a time, by one woman. Two hands, two feet, and one brain.” The third answer was, “Began in 1958.”

For me, that moment was a life-changing experience. I thought of this woman whom I had never met, who, more than forty years before, had begun, one bulb at a time, to bring her vision of beauty and joy to an obscure mountaintop. Planting one bulb at a time, year after year, this unknown woman had forever changed the world in which she lived. One day at a time, she had created something of extraordinary magnificence, beauty, and inspiration. The principle her daffodil garden taught is one of the greatest principles of celebration.

That is, learning to move toward our goals and desires one step at a time–often just one step at time–and learning to love the doing, learning to use the accumulation of time. When we multiply tiny pieces of time with small increments of daily effort, we too will find we can accomplish magnificent things.

“It makes me sad in a way,” I admitted to Carolyn. “What might I have accomplished if I had thought of a wonderful goal thirty-five or forty years ago and had worked away at it ‘one bulb at a time’ through all those years? Just think what I might have been able to achieve!”

My daughter summed up the message of the day in her usual direct way. “Start tomorrow,” she said.

She was right. It’s so pointless to think of the lost hours of yesterdays. The way to make learning a lesson of celebration instead of a cause for regret is to only ask, “How can I put this to use today?”

Use the Daffodil Principle. Stop waiting….Until your car or home is paid off…Until your kids leave the house…Until you finish school..Until you organize the garage…Until you clean off your desk…Until you lose 10 lbs…Until you get married… Until you have kids…Until the kids go to school…Until you retire…Until summer…spring, winter…or fall.

Plant Your Bulbs TODAY!

Feast Day of St Katherine Drexel

childofgod — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 19:54:46 +0000

St. Katharine Drexel, Religious and Missionary

(a Philadelphia Saint-she lived within a mile of my childhood home. Today her home is owned by the Sisters Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and whose grounds is located a Montessori school as well as aschool for boys where which many family members have attended: St. Aloysius Academy. )

1858-1955
Feast Day: March 3

Katharine Drexel was born in Philadelphia in 1858. The daughter of a millionaire banker, she never went without as she grew up in the bosom of Philadelphia society, yet she was filled with a pious desire to submit her will to God and to take care of the poor. At the urging of her spiritual advisor, Bishop John O’Connor of Omaha, Katharine resolved to found a religious order of women dedicated to mission work among the Native American and African-American poor. In 1891, she founded the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament. With a keen business sense developed under her father, Mother Drexel founded numerous schools and missions throughout the South and West of the United States. Today, the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament have missions in eleven states and in Haiti.

Mother Drexel was an active administrator of her order well into her seventies, when her health gave out and she was forced into a more contemplative life at the SBS mother house outside Philadelphia. Here she spent the final twenty years of her life in prayer and reflection — a life she had wanted since, as a young woman, she had first thought of becoming a vowed religious. Her body is now entombed at the Saint Katharine Drexel Shrine in Bensalem, Pennsylvania (shown at right).

On January 27, 2000, a 1994 healing of the deafness of a young girl from Pennsylvania was accepted by Pope John Paul II as attributable to the miraculous intercession of Mother Katharine. She was formally canonized in a ceremony in Rome on October 1, 2000.

What first interested me in St. Katharine Drexel is that her uncle, Anthony J. Drexel, was the founder of my alma mater, Drexel University. As these things go, that’s a pretty close tie-in. That we’re both from Philly doesn’t hurt, either.

Saint Katharine Drexel, friend to the poor, pray for us!

Quo Vadis, Domine?

childofgod — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 16:37:41 +0000

Rev. Emmanuel Charles McCarthy: “Quo Vadis Domine?
“Quo Vadis Domine is the name of my favorite church in Rome. It lies just outside the gates of my favorite place in Rome, the Callistus Catacombs. It is a tiny, old church, easily missed by tourists looking for “the grandeur that was Rome.” It commemorates the time in the life of Christianity when St. Peter decides to remain in Rome, rather than go to another city in order to avoid persecution and death. While the historical environment of that time (54–68 AD) is well known, the precise historical details of Peter’s choice are not. The spiritual drama of Peter’s decision, however, has been illuminated and immortalized by the Nobel Prize Laureate in Literature, Henryk Sienkiewicz, in his 1905 masterpiece Quo Vadis. At the climactic moment of the novel, Peter is leaving Rome with his friend, Nazarius, during the height of Nero’s persecution of Christians. He meets the risen Jesus on the outskirts of the city. Jesus, however, is walking into, not out of, Rome:

The traveling staff fell out of Peter’s hand. His eyes were fixed immovably ahead. His lips were open, and his face reflected unbelievable surprise, immense joy, and rapturous exaltation. Suddenly he threw himself on his knees, his arms lifted upward and stretched to the light, and his lips cried out: “Christ! O Christ!” His head beat against the dust as if he were kissing the feet of someone only he could see. Then there was silence.“Quo vadis, Domine?” his voice asked at last, punctured by his sobbing. “Where are you going, Lord?” Nazarius heard no answer. But a voice of ineffable sweetness and abundant sorrow rang in Peter’s ears, “When you abandon my people,” he heard, “I must go to Rome to be crucified once more.”The apostle lay still and silent with his face pressed into the dust. Nazarius thought he had either died or fainted, but he rose at last, picked up his pilgrim’s staff, and turned again toward the seven hills.

“Quo vadis, domine?” the boy asked like an echo of the apostle’s cry.”

I beg you, in a way that is worthy of thinking beings, think of God’s mercy, my brothers and sisters, and worship Him, offering your living bodies as a holy sacrifice, truly pleasing to God. Do not model yourselves on the behavior of the world around you, but let your behavior change, modeled by your new mind. This is the only way to discover the will of God and know what God wants…           (Romans 8:1–3)

Quo Vadis Domine?          Rev. Emmanuel Charles McCarthy
        http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig7/mccarthy2.htmlby

When I visited the Quo Vadis Church and viewed these footrpints, they appeared to be about 18 inches long. Big , big feet!

Time for the Lord’s harvest and to “beat …swords into plowshares”!

childofgod — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 15:22:58 +0000

Isaiah Chapter 2

1

¹ This is what Isaiah, son of Amoz, saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.

2

² In days to come, The mountain of the LORD’S house shall be established as the highest mountain and raised above the hills. All nations shall stream toward it;

3

³ many peoples shall come and say: “Come, let us climb the LORD’S mountain, to the house of the God of Jacob, That he may instruct us in his ways, and we may walk in his paths.” For from Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

4

He shall judge between the nations, and impose terms on many peoples. They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; One nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall they train for war again.

5

O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the LORD!

6

⁴ You have abandoned your people, the house of Jacob, Because they are filled with fortunetellers and soothsayers, like the Philistines; they covenant with strangers.

7

Their land is full of silver and gold, and there is no end to their treasures; Their land is full of horses, and there is no end to their chariots.

8

Their land is full of idols; they worship the works of their hands, that which their fingers have made.

9

But man is abased, each one brought low. (Do not pardon them!)

10

Get behind the rocks, hide in the dust, From the terror of the LORD and the splendor of his majesty!

Footnotes

¹ [1] An editorial addition introducing Isaiah 2-5.

² [2-4] The messianic destiny which ensures Judah’s later restoration. In the messianic kingdom the prophets generally see the Lord’s house as the seat of authority and the source of clear and certain doctrine; also, its rule willingly accepted by all peoples, maintained by spiritual sanctions, and tending to universal peace. This passage is found substantially unchanged in Micah 4:1-3; it probably, although not certainly, has Isaiah as its author.

³ [3] Zion . . . Jerusalem: types of the earthly center of the messianic kingdom.

⁴ [6] Fortune-tellers and soothsayers: divination was strictly forbidden; cf Deut 18:9-14.

photo credit: http://pinker.wjh.harvard.edu/photos/New_York/images/Swords%20into%20plowshares%20at%20UN.jpg

The following article contains Pope Benedict XVI’s message for Lent.

The quotes that jump put at me are: “Taking up one’s cross and following Christ is part of entering into Lent, and the only path in life that leads to the victory of love and peace over hatred and violence.” “Entering into Lent means to enter into a time of particular commitment in the spiritual combat that opposes us to the evil present in the world, in each one of us and around us”

“It means to look evil in the face and dispose oneself to fight against its effects, above all against its causes, right up to its ultimate cause, Satan.”

“The cross,” he added, is the “opportunity to follow Christ and in this way acquire strength in the battle against sin and evil.”

My sense is that:

We women are being called to take the lead and turn our swords into plowshares. Examples include the slicing swords of our quick tongues, “avenging angel swords” (especially when it comes to our children, our husbands our “heart stuff,” the piercing sword of criticism, judgment, anger, lack of charity.

The question that comes to mind, “Am I laying down my life, each moment, to become holy? or ” Am I running away from the Crucifixion as Peter ran from Rome to avoid the crucifixion that awaited him? Peter meeting Jesus heading into Rome as Peter runs in the opposite direction. Peter asks Jesus, ” Quo Vadis, Domine?” Jesus answers: “To Rome to be crucified again.” Jeuss is crucifed over and over in our lace when we run from picking up our cross.

==================================================

Pope Benedict XVI : Cross Leads to Victory of Love and Peace

Offers Reflection on Entering Into LentVATICAN CITY, FEB. 10, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Taking up one’s cross and following Christ is part of entering into Lent, and the only path in life that leads to the victory of love and peace over hatred and violence, says Benedict XVI.The Pope said this today in an address to the thousands gathered in St. Peter’s Square to pray the midday Angelus, in which he reflected on what it means to live the liturgical season of Lent.

Entering into Lent, he said, “means to enter into a time of particular commitment in the spiritual combat that opposes us to the evil present in the world, in each one of us and around us. It means to look evil in the face and dispose oneself to fight against its effects, above all against its causes, right up to its ultimate cause, Satan.

“It means not unloading the problem of evil onto others, onto society, onto God, but recognizing one’s own responsibility and consciously taking it upon oneself.”

The Holy Father said that it’s also a time to take up one’s cross and follow Christ. The cross, he added, is the “opportunity to follow Christ and in this way acquire strength in the battle against sin and evil.”

The Pontiff concluded: “Entering into Lent therefore means renewing the personal and communal decision to face evil together with Christ. The way of the cross is in fact the only way that leads to the victory of love over hate, of sharing over egoism, of peace over violence.

“Seen in this way, Lent is truly an occasion for determined ascetic and spiritual commitment founded upon the grace of Christ.”

Lourdes Apparitions at 150

childofgod — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 00:06:05 +0000

The Relevance of Lourdes at 150 Excerpts of an Interview With Bishop Jacques Perrier by Isabelle Cousturié

LOURDES, France, FEB. 20, 2008 (Zenit.org) The bishop of Lourdes says the pilgrimage site in his diocese is like a promise that never betrays.

That’s how Bishop Jacques Perrier of Tarbes et Lourdes described the spot on Feb. 10, eve of the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, during his homily at Mass celebrated in the grotto. “The apparitions in Lourdes,” the bishop said, “like Lent, propose to us the same question, that of hope, to which our Pope has dedicated his second encyclical. In what do we place our hope? What are we ready to do to enter into the great hope?”

At the beginning of this jubilee year marking the 150th anniversary of Our Lady’s apparitions to Bernadette Soubirous, the prelate spoke …about the current relevance of the message left by the “beautiful lady.”

“If pilgrims come to Lourdes, they will be welcomed with warmth, and something very simple will be proposed to them: to follow the path of the jubilee, made up of four stages — the baptistery, where Bernadette was baptized; the ancient prison, which is a place typically evangelical; and naturally the sanctuaries; and the oratory where Bernadette received her First Communion.

Those who come can trace this path. The message of Lourdes is not essentially in words, but rather in actions, words, gestures all taken together, to enter into the spirit of the apparitions, through this itinerary by means of the four points of the city and the sanctuaries.

And for all those who cannot come, there are ways to unite yourselves from afar. [The Web site is in six languages, including English.] A retreat, or more precisely a novena, has been made, to associate oneself with the path of the jubilee, because for us, it is important that these people too can live the spirit of the jubilee, given that they don’t have the possibility of being physically present, because of a lack of time or due to financial reasons.

Q: Could you remind us of this message and tell us what is the current situation?

Bishop Perrier: There are various elements to the message. There is a strictly evangelical and constant aspect, which [is] that God chooses the humble and the little ones, because Bernadette was, moreover, uneducated. She was intelligent but she was not educated. She did not know how to read or write. She didn’t go to catechesis and she belonged to a bankrupt family.

There is also the aspect of prayer: All of the episodes of the apparitions take place entirely in a climate of prayer. And there is, as well, the aspect of trust, that is, that the Virgin and Bernadette speak to each other, and sometimes don’t even say anything. The encounter takes place in silence on 18 occasions. There is, thus, this type of cooperation, of reciprocal familiarity between Bernadette and the Lady. And something of this remains. In Lourdes, people are not afraid. And that’s why there are so many people. She presents herself as someone who can understand everything and can welcome everything.

And there’s an aspect of penance that can’t be forgotten. This aspect does not appear at the beginning nor at the end of the apparitions, but rather in the middle. Five of the apparitions are very focused on penance and during a time of penance is when the fountain is discovered, which today is very associated with Lourdes, because immediately Lourdes was spread around the world.

And then, there is the name. Finally the Virgin wanted to say her name. She ended saying “I am the Immaculate Conception.” Thus, there is total purity, there is complete innocence, this perfect integrity of liberty.

As you can see, there are many aspects in this message. And precisely because there are a lot, everyone can find something. In any case, this is not a message that can be summarized only in the few words that have been repeated. The message includes as well the gestures, the attitudes, the time that has passed. All of this is the message. It is like in the Gospel: There are not just the words of the Gospel that Christ proclaimed; it is the whole of the life of Christ to which the Gospels bear witness.

No more bondage! Glorious Liberty!

childofgod — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 01:45:07 +0000

The time to enter in to the Promised Land of the Holy Spirit is here. The second fulness of time is upon us.

THEOTOKOS Mother of God, Mother of us all

childofgod — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 01:42:03 +0000

Friday, February 22, 2008

Check out our new website for women who want to model their lives after the Blessed Mother, handmaids of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and become dwelling places for the Word Incarnate. http://theotokoslourdes.wordpress.com/