You are Loved

I posted this for a special someone (just a little reminder) - they know who they are. xx

Why Should I Go to Confession?

Sin is a fact of life.
Whether we’re guilty of the sins of the flesh (such as adultery, fornication, masturbation, gluttony, drunkenness), sins of pride (anger, hard-heartedness, envy) or some other kind of moral failing, we all fall prey to sin.

Some sins are called “venial,” because they weaken the life of grace in the soul and make it more likely that the person will fall into “mortal” (i.e., serious) sin — the kind of sin which, because of its gravity, extinguishes the life of grace in the soul.

But all sins separate us from God.

As the Bible reminds, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just, and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:8-9).

The problem is that many people become comfortable with living in the state of sin (c.f., 1 John 5:16-17) and never really make any effort to turn their hearts back toward the Lord with repentance and a firm desire to avoid sin and grow in holiness.
There are even those who live an outward life of apparent goodness, but inwardly, they are practicing sins that keep them from the relationship with the Lord that He desires for them.

“He who says, ‘I know him’ but disobeys his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him” (1 John 2:4).

The good news is that Jesus Christ wants to free you from the chains of sin, give you new life in grace and lead you to the heights of holiness.
But he won't do that against your will.
You must be willing to say “yes” to His gifts of grace and forgiveness.
And the very first step along that path is to make a good, sincere, heartfelt confession of your sins.

Even if it's been many years since you last went to Confession, there's no reason to be afraid or to delay.
You can change your life today, simply by discovering Christ and His mercy in the Sacrament of Reconciliation!

Source = HERE

Let's start giving.

We are the World - 25 for Haiti

Do what you can, Haiti needs you.

Whatever you have, no matter how big or how small...IT ALL COUNTS!

Do more than just watch...reach into your hearts.

Dios es amor...

"Dios es Amor" means...
"GOD IS LOVE."

Planned Parenthood - America

Insiders from the abortion industry reveal the linkage between the upcoming socialization of healthcare and the promotion of the abortion industry.

Thanks to Divine Ripples.

Temptations of Christ

The following is from my Parish Bulletin, thanks to Fr Murphy.

1) Bodily pleasures v's Self Control
2) Ego/Power v's Prayerfulness
3) Wealth/Greed v's Generosity

Temptations are not sins, provided we do not consent to them.
Christ was tempted but never sinned.
He allowed Himself to be tempted so as to teach us HOW to combat them.

Sometimes overcoming temptations can even help us to obtain more grace and grow in virtue.
All occasions of sin, however, are dangerous in as much as we become more susceptible to sin.
For the devil never sleeps, but like a hunter waits silently for his prey, until we are tired, fed up or depressed.
Then via deceit, fantasy and with feigned compassion, he induces us into his snare and sin is chosen.













During Lent, the common practice of penance is fulfilled by performing the following:

1) Prayer
- daily Mass
- rosary
- stations of the cross
- adoration

2) Self-Denial
- not eating meat
- sweets
- alcohol
- no TV
- no internet
- no computer games, etc...

3) Helping Others
- the poor (ie: project compassion box)
- visiting the sick
- visiting the elderly
- visiting the lonely

Temporary Home

Earth is our 'temporary' home.

Q : Where is our real (permanent), home?
A : Heaven

40 Days for Life

40 Days for Life starts on Ash Wednesday, it was a great idea by Americans, and it means vigils outside abortion mills 24/7 and prayer and fasting until March 28- BUT!!

That's all kinda boring because my REAL news is that 40 Days for Life is now in Australia (America, and North Ireland if you're dropping by) again and in:

Melbourne - http://www.40daysforlife.com/melbourne/
Sydney - http://www.40daysforlife.com/sydney/
Brisbane - http://www.40daysforlife.com/brisbane

The home page for 40 Days for life is here- http://www.40daysforlife.com/about.cfm

You don't have to live in those cities to participate.
There are heaps of things you can do - go to the Home page and click on "Get Involved".

So basically, this means you have NO excuse not to do something for the 100,000 children killed by abortion every year in Australia alone and making this a wonderful Lent- saving lives!!



The following is a trailer (for America) for the 40 Days for Life...it may inspire you to participate.

Test driving Sex...

Former Australian Rugby League player Jason Stevens (now a Presenter, Speaker and Author), recently married his wife after vowing to stay celibate until he was married.
The following is a reply of his to a question about waiting until marriage to have sex.

What would you do if it turned out your future wife was a shocker in bed?

I believe that a good sex life that lasts only comes out of a great relationship based on love, respect and trust.
When these things are in place in a relationship and both people have a good self esteem- the sex will be awesome.
People think you need to try before you buy, but I believe the worst lovers are the "experienced ones" because they come into a relationship with past memories of lovers, hurts from previous relationship - in other words baggage.
Sex isn't like buying a car, you don't need to test drive it!

To read many of his answers to similar questions, click HERE.

Changing old habits

Are you a Good Old Boy?

- Do you go to church on Sunday morning, and then get drunk Sunday afternoon while watching the NFL?

- Or worse, do you not even go to Church on Sunday because your golf game and your Sunday Newspaper take priority?

- Do you follow all of the latest news on TV, but don't have a clue what the Bible says, or what your Church teaches?

- Do you tell dirty jokes to the guys?

- Do you sneak a peek at porn whenever no one else is around?

- Do you flirt with the women at work but don't like talking to your very own wife?

- Do you like to go to Hooters and stare at the cleavage?

- Are you obsessed with spending quality time with your computer, your car, your sports, your buddies, etc., but hate to spend time with your very own family?

If you answered YES to any of these, then you may be suffering from "Good ol' Boy" (GOB) Syndrome.

















Unfortunately for you, you can't have it both ways - you have to choose, because most GOBs won't make it to Heaven unless they repent and embrace Jesus Christ.
That is decidedly uncool for most GOBs.
The peer pressure of your drinking/joking/smoking/sports buddies would probably be too great for you to quit that lifestyle, and besides, they would laugh at you if you did that.


However, it is also VERY true that none of us will come to a natural end, but rather a supernatural one, when we die.
What that means is that we will all wind up in one of 3 places upon our death - Heaven, Purgatory, or Hell.












That means that if you are not paying attention to God now, and are putting football, porn, drinking, etc., before Him, then you will have a very tough time getting into Heaven.
Remember that you could die tomorrow on the way to work.
No one is guaranteed a tomorrow in this life.
Probably none of the 3000 or so who died on 9/11/2001 thought that they were going to die that day and meet their Maker while they were getting dressed that morning.









Besides all of that, participating in GOB activities usually means that your family life suffers greatly.
The wife that you promised to love, honor, and obey in front of God, your priest, and your family and relatives during your wedding, probably would love to have you come back into her life as a loving husband and father to your kids.











Unfortunately, the tug and pull of your GOB lifestyle wins out more often than not.
Hopefully, you will heed this message to come back to Christ before a disaster happens in your family.
Sooner or later, there will be a car wreck, an injury, a death, cancer, etc., that God will use to call you back to his flock.
At that time, you will probably plead with God for help in eliminating this event from your life, or the life of a loved one.
Just like an NFL quarterback doesn't wait for Sunday to start getting in shape for the game, neither should you wait for a tragedy to happen to you or your family to begin to learn to pray.
It takes a lot less faith to pray to prevent a tragedy, rather than to undo one.











A word here about how the devil operates.
No one signs a contract with the devil to be subject to him.
The real way that he gets you is through sin.
Every time you sin, and the more grievous the sin, the devil and his minions get a piece of you.
The bigger the sin, and the more frequent the sin, the more you will find that life is mysteriously not going well for you.
While this is not demonic possession as seen in "The Exorcist", there are lesser degrees of control that the devil can exert in your life.
Your marriage, your health, your outlook on life, your family, your job, etc., will all start to fall apart, and you won't have a clue why.
You will start hollering and screaming at your family for the silliest things as a result.
You will start blaming everyone else for your very own self-created problems.

So - By not sinning (porn, drinking, anger, treating your family horribly), you reduce this possibility from occurring in your life, and the life of your family.


So now what?
First, you have to eliminate your GOB lifestyle and then go to confession and have God bless you through that sacrament.
Through this sacrament, God forgives you of your past sins that you confess to His priest, as long as you truly repent and promise to try not to do sin again.
This part of the cure can be thought of as "eliminating the negative" in your life.

After that, start reading a good Catholic Bible.








The last thing is to learn how to pray.
Prayer is not "give me, give me, give me".
The 4 ways of prayer are:
1. Adoration
2. Contrition
3. Thanksgiving
4. Supplication (requests) - which is abbreviated ACTS.

The person who learns to use the first 3 items (ACT) as the majority of his prayers usually gets the supplications (requests) answered.
The person who only uses requests while ignoring the first three rarely gets his prayers answered.
A useful approach to prayers is to be as humble as you can, as often as you can. The devil's sin was pride, because he wanted to be God.
The opposite of pride is humility, so the person who really is humble usually is the most successful prayer warrior.
The more you humbly pray in adoration and contrition and thanksgiving, the easier it becomes.
Most people pray today like they have to make a long distance telephone call to God when they want something.
After you begin your new prayer life, you will realize that no long distance phone call is needed, because God is right beside you and can hear you just fine 24/7/365.











In summary, being a "good ol' boy" is a very natural human state of existence for most "guys".
Sadly, it will not get you into heaven, but usually blocks that from happening.
That is the long-term problem.
The short-term problem is that it will start to affect your earthly life here as well, in a decidedly negative fashion.

Accepting Jesus in your life, receiving the sacraments, going to Church every Sunday, reading the Bible and humble prayer with Adoration, Contrition, Thanksgiving and Supplication is the cure.

To read this whole article, go HERE.

Bad Company

Things to remember from the video:

1 Corinthinans 15:33 - "Do not be misled. Bad company corrupts good character."

" ...I expected that I was going to be able to maintain my Christlike behaviour when I was hanging out with these kids...and especially when I have no support from other Christians...""

Romans 3:10 "There is no one righteous..."

I can't do anything on my own.


Bad company is people who are not living the way that God has asked us to live.

It doesn't mean that they are evil, horrible people.
It just means that they are not seeking after Christ, like you, and thus they are bad company for you.


It is hard to give up those friends, because they can be some of your 'closest' friends or 'only' friends, because you may not have any Christian friends.

Letting go of them can be one of the best things for your life, because it can allow you to see what is going on in your life, that may be keeping you from Christ.
It may take time to end those relationships.

You can be more of a 'light' when you hang out with other Christians.


Remember, the Majority Rule.
If you are going to hang out with somebody that you are trying to win for Jesus, only hang out with them when the majority of people that you are with are good company and good character people.
So that means, if you hang out with a non-Christian friend, bring 3 Christian friends with you, so that your good company can bring their bad company up, instead of their bad company bringing you down to their level.
This will allow you to have success.

Answer this:
It can be okay to hang out with non-Christians...but are they your MAIN friends?
Are you hanging out with people that are not following the call of Christ?

Time

I have realised that I need to put more time into reading the Bible and TALKING and LISTENING to God (praying).

I knew a long time ago, that I should be doing this (and have started), but never continued with it, as I have let distractions and excuses get in the way.

For this to be a reality in my life, I have come to the conclusion that I have to forfit doing other things (such as reading blogs), and prioritize my time better.

I find it easier to 'do' things by minusing other things in my life all together, so that I don't get distracted and so that I am not as easily tempted.

The devil trys his best to keep us busy.
The last thing he wants is for us to pray and form a 'personal' relationship with Jesus.
He couldn't stand it if we set aside time, to not only read the Bible, but find time to TALK to Jesus each day and then be quiet and still (say nothing), and actually LISTEN to what He is telling us.

I recently recieved a good reminder from someone who wrote:
"Be faithful to your time for daily prayer above everything else like Jesus was....this is THE KEY, because it is only then that you can listen more deeply to God's will for your life and then put it into practice.
Everything stems from your prayer life!
And the devil is so happy when he stops you from making time to pray because he has stopped you from listening to God speak to you directly through his Word!!!
Always be radical in this one thing and everything else will flow from it."

God gave us the Scriptures to read and to see how He lived His life and to learn how to love like Jesus does.
If we don't know Jesus, then how can we be like Him?
And to know Him, we have to form a close relationship with Him.

So don't be offended if I don't read your blog anymore, or have stopped following or don't comment.
Right now in my life, I am shutting off my temptations and concentrating on starting to form a real relationship with my true Father who loves me more than I know and is waiting and longing for me to dialogue with Him.

"Everyone is doing it"

Source = Chastity.com

How should I respond when people in my high school say, "Everyone is doing it?"

You could respond in any number of ways.
For one, you could ask the person, “If I can prove that the majority of high school students are virgins, will you be abstinent?”

The most authoritative research on the sexual activity rates of high school students is the Youth Risk Behavior Survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control. According to this nationwide survey of more than 150 high schools, only about a third of all students are currently sexually active.
Since 1991 teen sexual activity rates have been dropping, and now the majority of high school students are virgins.
In fact, between 1991 and 2005 the sexual activity rate of high school boys dropped twice as quickly as that of high school girls!

Among teens who have already lost their virginity, two-thirds of them wish they had waited longer to have sex (77 percent of girls and 60 percent of guys).

The trend toward chastity is well underway, even if you haven’t noticed it on your campus.
The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy surveyed teens from around the country, asking them if it was embarrassing for teens to admit that they are virgins.
Surprisingly, 87 percent of teens said no, it’s not embarrassing.
Most of those who said it was embarrassing were under the age of fifteen.
Only 5 percent of older teens (fifteen to seventeen years of age) thought virginity was an embarrassing admission.

Despite the fact that these teens said virginity wasn’t something to be ashamed of, you don’t hear much about it because the sexually active students do all the talking.
For some reason chastity gossip just doesn’t seem to spread as quickly.
This gives the impression that “everyone is doing it,” when in reality the majority are not.

You could also point out that the “everyone” who is “doing it” is also getting STDs, that “everyone” is breaking up three weeks after they have sex, and “everyone” ends up getting divorced if they stay together long enough to get married.

You are in no rush to join any of these crowds.
We all have a fear of not being accepted or of being a loner if we do not conform to the world.
But you must hold out for the higher standard of love.

The bottom line is this:
What is your motivation?
Is it to please God or to conform to the world and make life-changing decisions based on the opinions of classmates, most of whom you will probably never see again after graduation?
Stay strong.
You are worth the wait.
Besides, the world needs to see young people who are not scared out of their minds to be chaste.
This is something to be proud of, and if enough people on your campus realize this and have the courage to stand up, I would bet the saying “everyone is doing it” may eventually refer to chastity.

His Little Princess

Click HERE to buy the book and take a look inside the 1st few pages.

















A True Fairy Tale

Cinderella is a great story, but after the last page is turned, little girls can’t look forward to the tale coming true when they grow up.
It’s just “for pretend.”
Now girls ages four to nine can unveil the reality of their royal calling!
His Little Princess shows them that they are not pretend princesses…because God is for real!
When a grown-up sits down to read out loud these touching love letters, girls will come to understand and embrace how much they are truly loved and adored by God, the King of kings!

A Daughter of the King

Every little girl dreams of being a princess.
And for the one who trusts in God, the Word heralds a most beautiful truth: She is the chosen daughter of the King of all kings.
She is a true princess!

Here is a majestic gift for that special young one in your life—personal letters written from her King.
Each day a new letter will inspire her to live and act like the radiant princess she is!

Story Behind the Book

“If we can help our daughters learn from a young age that they are God’s chosen princesses, we will help them to win the identity struggles they will face as teens. While we have influence in their lives, we need to deposit in their hearts and minds how much they are loved and how important they are in God’s kingdom.
This book will give girls godly confidence that they are chosen by the King of all kings.
Read one each day to them and watch them grow into the princesses they are destined to be!”

Abortion Testimony

Thanks to Divine Ripples