Pope Calls for Peace

The Ninth Beatitude

Yes, I know that Jesus gave us eight blessings, in his Sermon on the Mount: (Matt. 5: 3-12).

Blessed are...

• ...the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (5:3)
• ...those who mourn: for they will be comforted. (5:4)
• ...the meek: for they will inherit the earth. (5:5)
• ...those who hunger and thirst for righteousness: for they will be filled. (5:6)
• ...the merciful: for they will be shown mercy. (5:7)
• ...the pure in heart: for they will see God. (5:8)
• ...the peacemakers: for they will be called children of God. (5:9)
• ...those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (5:10)

Today, on this feast of Blessed M. Jean-Joseph Lataste, the Apostle of Prisons, I think we should add Blessed are those in prison.

Am I crazy?  

Before you judge, think about this.  Those who are in prison have been stripped of all pride.  They have lost all dignity.  They have no or little material goods.  They are forced to realize that they are nothing, in comparison to God.  

Is this not a gift?

May this invitation by the spirit change them from being forced into poverty to voluntary poverty.  Then, their life shall reflect God.

Vigil of Bl. Jean-Joseph Lataste

My cloistered brothers and I celebrated the Vigil of Blessed Marie Jean-Joseph Lataste, O.P., the
Apostle of Prison.  We told our favorite Lataste stories.  We remembered our Brother Louis de Montfort and Brother Paul of Mary, in our prayers.  We prayed Lataste's prayer.  We answered questions that we all have had at one time or another.

IOW, we faith shared, sang, and prayed.  You know, all the Catholic stuff Dominicans do when they celebrate.

We are in awe at the work of the Holy Spirit.

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Letter to Pope Francis

Faith Calling

Your Holiness Pope Francis I,

Having the world pray for peace on Sept. 7, 2013, is a wonderful idea.  The best part of the idea, in my humble opinion, is not “pray for peace,” although that is important—very important.  I think having the “world” pray for peace is a great evangelizing tool. 

However, although communication over the internet may be instantaneous, having the word travel throughout the populace is not instantaneous.  Announcing your call to prayer on the weekend and expecting everyone to receive the message is unrealistic.  That is less than a week!

I would bet that my parish priest has not received word.  I bet his bishop hasn't.  Even if they were told, could they put together a prayer service in a few days to be ready for the Vigil of the Nativity of Mary?  Could they get word out for all the parishioners to attend, or pray along privately?  How could they possibly get the message out?

The message should be proclaimed from Sunday’s pulpit, but you haven’t given us enough time.

It is a stroke of genius to invite the entire world to pray.  You could invite all the religious leaders of the world to pray.  Imagine, the entire world praying for peace, at the same time!

As for me, of course I will pray on the Vigil of the Virgin Mary.  Tonight, when I go to Bible Study, which is in another parish, I will alert them to your prayer request.  So we have one parish involved.  Tomorrow night, when I go to my own parish’s prayer group, I’ll tell them.  Two!  That’s two parishes praying.  And before prayer group, I’m going to visit my “cloistered brothers.”  They are efficacious prayer warriors.  There, that’s three venues praying for peace in the Middle East, in Africa, in Syria, and the world. 

You are in my prayers, Holiness.  May God protect you, give you a long and blessed life.

Your sister in Christ,
InSPND,
Mrs. Faith Flaherty, O.P.

Keys to the Kingdom

It was a crazy day.  When I went to Mass this morning, the church was all locked up. I go about 45 minutes before Mass because a group of us pray the Rosary.  I waited and waited.  One other car drove up beside me and a man rolled down the window and barked, "What happened to Mass?"  He didn't even wait for a conversation; he drove off in a huff.  After awhile, I drove around the church to the other side.  There were quite a few cars there.  Every once in awhile, someone would go up to the church doors and shake the handle.

What did they think?  The person perform them was pretending that the door was locked.  Someone went over to the rectory and that was all locked up.

It was a funny scene.  People in their cars staring at the church doors.  I could see that some people, like myself, were fingering their rosaries.

When I finished praying my rosary, I took off.  I never did find out what happened.  It is Labor Day.  Maybe the priest took the day off.

God bless him.

Pope Asks Everyone to Pray September 7

Pope Francis appeals for peace.  War begets war.  Violence begets violence.  The Pope asks the "entire church" to pray and fast for peace, for the people in Syria, in the Middle East, Africa, and all over the world, on Sept. 7.

Shark Fishing

My son-in-law caught a shark, late last night.  See the picture.  That's a red and white bobber in the shark's mouth.  The hook was not the hook to capture sharks.  That type of hook can be left inside the mouth and gills of the shark because its designed to be spit out.  This hook is really hooked inside the mouth of the shark because the hook was for Strippers.

Pliers had to be used to get the hook out of the sharks mouth.  Luckily, the operation was successful.  Sea Bass was the bait.  We had some sea bass that hadn't been eaten, in the refrigerator.  It was in danger of going bad, so we froze it.  That's what was used when the shark was caught.

It was close to midnight, on Trunk Beach.  There were no stars in the sky because of clouds.  The weather was very overcast.  The weather was fairly warm--60's.

Although the shark was saved, we didn't bring home any Strippers.