Food for the Journey

Be Thou My Vision  is a traditional Christian hymn of Irish origin  based on an old Irish prayer.    This is the version that I like.     I first heard it played after Holy Hour at St. Bernadette's.  It is sang set to the melody of an Irish folksong called Slane.   Irish Prayer as it appeared in a 1919 Church Hymnal Be Thou my vision, O Lord of my heart Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art Thou my best thought in the day and the night Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light Be Thou my wisdom, be Thou my true word I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord Thou my great Father, and I Thy dear son Thou in me dwelling and I with Thee one Be Thou my breast-plate, my sword for the fight Be Thou my armour, and be Thou my might  Thou my soul's shelter, and Though my high tower Raise Thou me heavenward, O Power of my power   Riches I heed not, nor man's empty praise Thou mine inheritance, through all my days  T...

At Mass, before the Gospel is read, the faithful make a triple sign of the cross.  We make the sign of the cross on the forehead, on the lips, and on the chest.  This is a way of praying, "May the Lord be in my mind, on my lips, and in my heart." 

This is such a beautiful video,  The Veil Removed .   There are just so many wonderful truths in those 7 minutes. When we go to mass, we provide our guardian angels to be in closer proximity to God (even if we all know that God is everywhere).

Eldest Sis bought me a rosary bracelet back in May. She mentioned that it had St. Benedict's medal and that there is a special blessing for this. Eldest Sis is based in Virginia USA.  I live in NSW Australia.   When she visited the home country in June, she brought it with her and left it there for me.  I had just visited there so I imagined it would take at least a year before I travel back and get my new rosary. Fortunately, one of the nephews went on vacation in July and was happy to bring the rosary back to Australia with him.    Today is a special day in Australia.  It is the Feast Day of Australia's only saint, Mary McKillop.  After the mass, I was able to have the rosary blessed.  The priest immediately noted that there was a St. Benedict Medal in the rosary.  He pulled out the prayer and blessed the rosary.  (I apologise that I cannot recall where I picked up the Saint Benedict medal meaning. I think I picked it up from Face...

After the Bible in a Year and Catechism in a Year , Fr. Mike Schmitz has come up with a short animated video earlier this month.  The Bible in 10 Minutes  hit over 1,000,000 views in just 3 days.  As of this writing, it has been 2 weeks since since 10 July 2024 and more people have seen the video. Let us keep learning.  Let us keep praying.  

Matthew 12:31-32   Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come. In today’s homily, Fr. Matthew mentioned that the sin against the Holy Spirit can come in two forms.  The first is DESPAIR.  This is when we think that our sins are too grave that God will not forgive them so we do not ask for forgiveness.  We do not trust in God’s mercy.  The second is PRESUMPTION.  This is when we think that we do not need to ask God for forgiveness because we believe are doing fine on our own.  We assume that we are good enough and can reach heaven without (seeking) God’s help. Despair and presumption are opposite extremes which can result in the loss of heaven.  The middle ground is HOPE.  We need to acknowledge our sinfulness and a...