Give our small things to Jesus, and He works miracles…

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SUNDAY JULY 16TH, 2023
“The Lord can do a lot with the little that we put at His disposal. It would be good to ask ourselves every day: “What do I bring to Jesus today?” He can do a lot with one of our prayers, with a gesture of charity for others, even with one of our sufferings handed over to His mercy. Our small things to Jesus, and He works miracles. This is how God loves to act: He does great things, starting from those small things, those freely-given ones.”
Pope Francis

Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Psalm 65
The seed that falls on good ground will yield a fruitful harvest.
You have visited the land and watered it;
greatly have you enriched it.
God’s watercourses are filled;
you have prepared the grain.
The seed that falls on good ground will yield a fruitful harvest.
Thus have you prepared the land: drenching its furrows,
breaking up its clods,
Softening it with showers,
blessing its yield.
The seed that falls on good ground will yield a fruitful harvest.
You have crowned the year with your bounty,
and your paths overflow with a rich harvest;
The untilled meadows overflow with it,
and rejoicing clothes the hills.
The seed that falls on good ground will yield a fruitful harvest.
The fields are garmented with flocks
and the valleys blanketed with grain.
They shout and sing for joy.
The seed that falls on good ground will yield a fruitful harvest.

Do not be afraid, nothing will be lost, because if you share, God will multiply….

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SATURDAY JULY 15TH, 2023
“Be brave, give what little you have, your talents, your possessions, make them available to Jesus and to your brothers and sisters. Do not be afraid, nothing will be lost, because if you share, God will multiply. Banish the false modesty of feeling inadequate, trust yourself. Believe in love, believe in the power of service, believe in the strength of gratuitousness.”

Pope Francis

Share the flood

the twister

the chaos

share the power of the God/Spirit…

believe in the strength of gratuitousness!

love to thank Him with simplicity…

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WEDNESDAY JULY 12TH, 2023
“Let us ask ourselves: In the deluge of news that overwhelms us, do I know how to stop before the great things of God, those that God accomplishes? Do I allow myself to marvel like a child at the good that silently changes the world? Have I lost the capacity to be amazed? And do I thank the Father each day for his works? May Mary, who exulted in the Lord, make us able to be amazed by his love and to thank him with simplicity.”
Pope Francis

Wednesday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time
 Psalm 33
Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.
Give thanks to the LORD on the harp;
with the ten-stringed lyre chant his praises.
Sing to him a new song;
pluck the strings skillfully, with shouts of gladness.
Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.
The LORD brings to nought the plans of nations;
he foils the designs of peoples.
But the plan of the LORD stands forever;
the design of his heart, through all generations.
 Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.
But see, the eyes of the LORD are upon those who fear him,
upon those who hope for his kindness,
To deliver them from death
and preserve them in spite of famine.
Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.

Be open to God; be amazed at His work…

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TUESDAY JULY 11TH, 2023
“The little ones are those who, like children, feel their need and are not self-sufficient. They are open to God and allow themselves to be amazed at his works. They know how to read his signs, to marvel at the miracles of his love! I ask all of you, and even myself, do we know how to marvel at the things of God or do we take them for passing things?”
Pope Francis

For those north of 70!……….

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New Cranky Old Women
TEES   ·   ·

I have no idea who put this together, but it is wonderful, especially if you’re North of 70!
Long ago and far away, in a land that time forgot,
Before the days of Dylan , or the dawn of Camelot.
There lived a race of innocents, and they were you and me.
For Ike was in the White House in that land where we were born,
Where navels were for oranges, and Peyton Place was porn.
We longed for love and romance, and waited for our Prince,
Eddie Fisher married Liz, and no one’s seen him since.
We danced to ‘Little Darlin,’ and sang to ‘Stagger Lee’
And cried for Buddy Holly in the Land That Made Me, Me.
Only girls wore earrings then, and 3 was one too many,
And only boys wore flat-top cuts, except for Jean McKinney.
And only in our wildest dreams did we expect to see
A boy named George with Lipstick, in the Land That Made Me, Me.
We fell for Frankie Avalon, Annette was oh, so nice,
And when they made a movie, they never made it twice..
We didn’t have a Star Trek Five, or Psycho Two and Three,
Or Rocky-Rambo Twenty in the Land That Made Me, Me.
Miss Kitty had a heart of gold, and Chester had a limp,
And Reagan was a Democrat whose co-star was a chimp.
We had a Mr. Wizard, but not a Mr. T,
And Oprah couldn’t talk yet, in the Land That Made Me, Me.
We had our share of heroes, we never thought they’d go,
At least not Bobby Darin, or Marilyn Monroe.
For youth was still eternal, and life was yet to be,
And Elvis was forever in the Land That Made Me, Me.
We’d never seen the rock band that was Grateful to be Dead,
And Airplanes weren’t named Jefferson , and Zeppelins were not Led.
And Beatles lived in gardens then, and Monkees lived in trees,
Madonna was Mary in the Land That Made Me, Me.
We’d never heard of microwaves, or telephones in cars,
And babies might be bottle-fed, but they were not grown in jars.
And pumping iron got wrinkles out, and ‘gay’ meant fancy-free,
And dorms were never co-Ed in the Land That Made Me, Me.
We hadn’t seen enough of jets to talk about the lag,
And microchips were what was left at the bottom of the bag.
And hardware was a box of nails, and bytes came from a flea,
And rocket ships were fiction in the Land That Made Me, Me.
T-Birds came with portholes, and side shows came with freaks,
And bathing suits came big enough to cover both your cheeks.
And Coke came just in bottles, and skirts below the knee,
And Castro came to power near the Land That Made Me, Me.
We had no Crest with Fluoride, we had no Hill Street Blues,
We had no patterned pantyhose or Lipton herbal tea
Or prime-time ads for those dysfunctions in the Land That Made Me, Me.
There were no golden arches, no Perrier to chill,
And fish were not called Wanda, and cats were not called Bill
And middle-aged was 35 and old was forty-three,
And ancient were our parents in the Land That Made Me, Me.
But all things have a season, or so we’ve heard them say,
And now instead of Maybelline we swear by Retin-A.
They send us invitations to join AARP,
We’ve come a long way, baby, from the Land That Made Me, Me.
So now we face a brave new world in slightly larger jeans,
And wonder why they’re using smaller print in magazines.
And we tell our children’s children of the way it used to be,
Long ago and far away in the Land That Made Me, Me.
If you didn’t grow up in the fiftys,
You missed the greatest time in history,
Hope you enjoyed this read as much as I did.
Follow us New Cranky Old Women

What humanity needs is an open heart, open to love…

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SATURDAY JULY 8TH, 2023
“What the poor need is certainly our humanity, our hearts open to love. Let us never forget that “we are called to find Christ in them, to lend our voice to their causes, but also to be their friends, to listen to them, to speak for them and to embrace the mysterious wisdom which God wishes to share with us through them.” Faith teaches us that every poor person is a son or daughter of God, and that Christ is present in them. “Just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me” (Mt 25:40).”
Pope Francis

Psalm 135
 Praise the Lord for the Lord is good!
Praise the name of the LORD;
Praise, you servants of the LORD
Who stand in the house of the LORD,
in the courts of the house of our God.
 Praise the Lord for the Lord is good!
Praise the LORD, for the LORD is good;
sing praise to his name, which we love;
For the LORD has chosen Jacob for himself,
Israel for his own possession.
 Praise the Lord for the Lord is good!
For I know that the LORD is great;
our LORD is greater than all gods.
All that the LORD wills he does
in heaven and on earth,
in the seas and in all the deeps.
 Praise the Lord for the Lord is good!

“Just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me” (Mt 25:40).”

See beyond appearances…

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Garrison Keillor
July 7, 2023
Joe Biden came to our apartment building for a fundraiser last week and the lobby was full of men in dark suits and sunglasses and I never got the chance to tell him that he needs to find a good recreational activity that will endear him to the millions of Americans who get their news from pictures rather than reading text. Standing at a lectern reading a speech is not enough. A candidate for president needs to look good while having fun, preferably in the great outdoors.
John F. Kennedy was a sailor and that image of him, at the helm of a boat steering into the Atlantic waves, was our first and lasting impression of him. He looked great with the wind in his face. Ronald Reagan looked terrific on horseback, thanks to his acting experience. He easily defeated Jimmy Carter who, against the advice of advisors, ran in a six-mile race and collapsed and the Secret Service had to carry him away, looking pale and sweaty and semi-conscious, not a good look for the Leader of the Free World.

Serious candidates should avoid strenuous physical activity of all sorts. You look exhausted and you’re likely to stumble, which would be seen by fifty million people and millions of advertising dollars would go down the toilet. Golf is the preferred presidential sport. You look good swinging a club and nobody notices that the ball landed in a marsh.After Carter, Reagan beat Walter Mondale whose sport was fishing. A fisherman against a horseman? No contest. Walter should’ve gone fishing for tuna out on the Atlantic while at the helm of a yacht and haul the big fish into the boat himself without assistance while grinning, but instead he was in a rowboat on a lake in Minnesota. He didn’t look like a commander in chief; he looked like an insurance salesman.

Michael Dukakis was a capable governor but then he took a ride in a tank while wearing a helmet

and he looked like a kid at an amusement park. That one photograph did him in. A presidential candidate should never be seen in a helmet. Same with wet suits. John Kerry wore one while windsurfing and it’s not a good look, it makes you look reptilian.
Al Gore would’ve been elected president if only he’d had a sport to offset his preachiness about climate change: touch football, tennis, horseshoes — if he’d hit a ringer and yelled, “Yes!” he’d’ve won Florida going away and become president and done good things to stabilize climate change but we never saw the fun side of him and the country suffered for that.
Hillary Clinton had no recreational activity other than attending committee meetings. Bowling could’ve worked for her: one strike and her leaping in the air and giving high-fives and whooping would’ve won her Wisconsin and the White House.
Biden needs a sport to put to rest the whispers about dodderiness. It’s nice to see him putting his arms around his dog and his grandkids — his predecessor was no hugger except with a few foreign leaders — but Biden needs to be seen being physically active. The press is waiting, cameras poised, hoping to see the guy stumble, and what you need to do, Joe, is go hiking in an open grassy area in chaps and boots, a leather vest, a bright red cap, a faithful dog at your side, a shotgun on your shoulder. The dog dashes ahead and flushes a pheasant from the brush and you raise the gun and fire it.

Yes, this will offend some vegans and progressives and people with pet pheasants, but everything you do comes with a price, and Dems need to broaden the base. The FDR wing of the party has faded away, we need to attract some people with tattoos and purple hair. Dems do well among fencers and archers but you need to connect with the rural male population that loves firearms. Guns have been around since the 14th century. Get with it. Teddy Roosevelt had the disadvantage of a pampered New York upbringing and he overcame it by going out west and shooting things.
Americans want a leader who is not so obsessed with bureaucracy and jargon that he/she doesn’t know how to have a good time. You pick up a shotgun and you’re no longer a geezer, you’re iconic, you’re Buffalo Bill, Matt Dillon, Audie Murphy, GI Joe. You’ve got all the social workers and teachers, Joe, now you need to get the farmers and the cops.

I know a mime is what a president needs, that is both an image and a paragraph. It leaves one with an engraved image on the heart forever.
Jeanne Poland

Speak with God’s style, kindly…

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THURSDAY JULY 6TH, 2023
“There is a great need to listen to and to hear one another. It is the most precious and life-giving gift we can offer each other. Listening without prejudice, attentively and openly, gives rise to speaking according to God’s style, nurtured by closeness, compassion and tenderness. We have a pressing need for communication that kindles hearts, that is balm on wounds and that shines light on the journey of our brothers and sisters.”
Pope Francis

My July Word of the Month poem
Children’s Author David L. Harrison’s Blog
Hi everyone,
Moon glade two nights ago inspired me to write my poem for July.

The sea murmurs a lullaby,
invites me to sit beside her,
admire her beauty as she
lies naked beneath the moon.
Both of us drowsy at the end of a day,
time now to rest, to sleep,
perhaps to dream.

(c) 2023 David L. Harrison, all rights reserved
davidlharrison
Jul 6

Each one of us, brothers and sisters, is a prophet…and points out God to others…

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TUESDAY JULY 4TH, 2023
 
“The one who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward” (Mt 10:41). Each one of us, brothers and sisters, is a prophet. In fact, with Baptism, all of us received the gift of the prophetic mission. A prophet is a living sign who points God out to others. A prophet is a reflection of Christ’s light on the path of the brothers and sisters. And so, we can ask ourselves: Do I, — each one of us – Do I, who am “a prophet by election” through Baptism, do I speak, and above all, do I live as a witness of Jesus? Do I bring a little bit of his light into the life of another person? Do I evaluate myself on this? I ask myself: What is my bearing witness like, what is my prophecy like?”
 
Pope Francis

God is a Father, wants to hold your hand…

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SUNDAY JULY 3RD, 2023
 
“God is not far away, He is a Father, He knows you and loves you; he wants to hold your hand, even when you travel on steep paths, even when you fall. Indeed, often in your weakest moments, you can feel his presence more strongly. He is with you, He is your Father. Jesus is the hand of the Father who never abandons us, the strong and faithful hand of the Father who always and only wants our good.”
 
Pope Francis

Feast of Saint Thomas, Apostle
 Psalm 117
Go out to all the world and tell the Good News.
Praise the LORD, all you nations;
glorify him, all you peoples!
Go out to all the world and tell the Good News.
For steadfast is his kindness for us,
and the fidelity of the LORD endures forever.
Go out to all the world and tell the Good News.

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