Family Help: Grace & Mercy, Time & Free Will. Fruits. For Soul Health.

AMDG

Our God, of Grace & Mercy, (The Last Vision of Sr. Lucia - June 13, 1929 - Soul Magazine, Spring 2009, p. 6 - wafusa.org) perpetually showers graces (1 Peter 3:7 -Douay-Rheims Version) and mercies on us. Our FREE WILL, (Ps. 50:12, 1 Cor. 9:1 - ibid.) which He does not interfere with, is our greatest grace, our greatest gift, our greatest blesssing. And His mercies are endless and endure forever. (Jeremias 33:11 - ibid.) Thanks be to God, for with FREE WILL, how we need mercy. He gives these gifts in time. His time.

"2 A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted.
3 A time to kill, and a time to heal. A time to destroy, and a time to build.
4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh. A time to mourn, and a time to dance.
5 A time to scatter stones, and a time to gather. A time to embrace, and a time to be far from embraces.
6 A time to get, and a time to lose. A time to keep, and a time to cast away.
7 A time to rend, and a time to sew. A time to keep silence, and a time to speak.
8 A time of love, and a time of hatred. A time of war, and a time of peace." (Ecclesiastes 3: 2-8 - ibid.)

Make good time and time good! How much of it we waste. If we find ourselves wasting time, we can pray in that time giving thanks for His graces - gifts - blessings - while asking for mercy. You choose.

p.s. If you are interested, see a few Work & Pray Sample Schedules Here
updated 01/19/2012

Can the difficult be a present???

Grace..."it's all gift". According to the Fathers and Doctors of the Church. That means...the good... and EVEN the bad!
So...grace is increased by way of the Sacraments, prayer, good works and EVEN the bad...the sorrowful, painful stuff! Holy Treasure???!!!

Good Works & Grace

"Faith without works is dead"...from the book of James. Good works increase grace...and St. Therese of Lisieux tells us that if we pick up a pin to say thank you to God. That small of a work can do it!!! Thanks be to God.

Family Help in Forming & Informing. Clearly. For Soul Health.

I read recently that Fr. Gruner says that saying the Rosary is a sure way to not fall into error...into heresy. And that if you are in error that praying the Rosary is a sure way to get out of it. He also says that praying the Rosary will help to keep your thoughts clear. He catches my attention with that one. With all of the distractions of the world at our finger tips that is not an easy task.

In our ever so humble minds it is easy to become bogged down...I did not say blogged down...
I am learning to sort and separate the secular from the Sacred in my mind so that what is of the world is clear to me and what is of the Sacred is likewise clear. Or at least clearer.

Then I am focusing on the Sacred and following the parts of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) - the Creed, the Sacraments, the 10 Commandments and Prayer as categories for my life and my files.  docatechesis.com has a daily schedule for this kind of sorting and separating in Catholic Education.

God's graces and blessings, Joan from St. Martha's - updated 01/19/2012

Is your grace account open or closed???

Holy Treasure...a friend from St. Anthony's says that grace builds on nature. I have always assumed that it means that it builds on me...on my soul. But I've also heard that grace builds on grace. Again, I assume that that means that the grace I have...from the Sacraments, (mostly), prayer and good works keep adding up...like a bank account is supposed to. That's my limited understanding about grace. Other than the Blessed Virgin Mary was full of grace. Again, it sounds to me that she did not or could not use any more. Wow! Just imagine.

On the other hand, grace is like a bank account in the other way also. You can withdraw grace. How? Sin. Ugh. Not an easy thing to think about. As a matter of fact sin can easily close the account if it is mortal or grave sin. Then we lose the very life of God in us.

The Benedictine Monks have the very best motto (and answer) in my book...pray and work...as a focus. It seems that those are the ingredients that can help us keep our grace account open. Not easy as pie though!

Joan from St. Martha's.

What do you think about grace?

JMJ - A.M.D.G. - A.S.A.P. (always say a prayer)
...In honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title of Our Lady of Grace...I would like to focus on grace and how it helps us to strengthen Catholic Family Life - in the faith and in daily living.