Being a Christian is Like Being a Pumpkin

I read this elsewhere and it made me smile so I thought I would share...

Being a Christian is like being a pumpkin.

God picks you, lifts you up and takes you in, and washes all of the dirt off of you.

He opens you up, touches you deep inside and scoops out all the yucky stuff

- including the seeds of doubt, fear, hate and greed, etc.

Then He carves you a new smiling face and puts His light inside you to shine for all the world to see!

Happy Halloween!

Blessings,

Noreen

Day of Reflection and Prayer for Peace

World Day of Peace

It's the 25 year anniversary of when Pope John Paul II first invited religious leaders from around the world to an inter-faith prayer service for peace at the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi in Italy.

In commemoration of Blessed John Paul's Day of World Peace in 1986, Pope Benedict XVI invited religious leaders from around the world to come together for the Day of Prayer for Peace.  There were over 300 religious and non-believers from over 50 countries who attended today's prayer event.

Last night, Pope Benedict said, "It is not the sword of the conqueror that builds peace, but the sword of those who suffer and give up their own lives."  He reminded the faithful that they must journey like Christ:  "not with the might of war or the force of power... but with the giving of self, with love carried to its extreme consequences, even towards our enemies."

I commend the Holy Father for his commitment in bringing together leaders from around the world to pray for peace!  We need more of this!  If the religious leaders from around the world stood firm for peace and justice, our world could be a place where no one has to live in fear.

You can find more information at National Catholic Register or EWTN.

Blessings,

Noreen

Book Review

Atheist to Catholic: Stories of Conversion was collected and edited by Rebecca Vitz Cherico.  Ms. Cherico compiled eleven conversion stories into her book which brings the reader on a journey of thoughtfulness, disdain, doubt, confusion and faith.  She says of her book "this is a book of seekers who ended up someplace they never intended to go; and yet they went there, even if it was inconvenient, awkward or strange."  Some of the people were cradle Catholics, who left the faith and came back.  Some were raised in either an atheistic household or others in a Protestant denomination household.  Regardless of their religious background, they all seemed to be intellectuals who viewed Catholicism with disinterest or downright contempt.  One of the stories is Ms. Cherico's own father's conversion to Catholicism.

Each story is unique, yet each convert experienced a similar range of emotions as they felt called to the Catholic Church.  It wasn't easy for any of them and it took time and faith for each individual to make their own journey.  As Ms. Cherico states in her introduction "Where we have strength to leave even a little opening.  God rushes in."  Whether we like it or not, God prods us to where He wants us to go!  All we have to do is obey and let Him lead!

This book is a collection of beautiful and heartfelt stories that leave the reader cheering on the convert!  I would highly recommend this book for the hope it offers to people who are searching for truth as well as for us Catholics, it's helps us understand the struggles they go through so we can be more supportive to new converts.  Atheist to Catholic is a 114 page book published by Servant Books, an imprint of St. Anthony Messenger Press in Cincinnati, Ohio in 2011.  You can purchase Atheist to Catholic: Stories of Conversion at Aquinas & More Catholic Goods for $13.99.

I was given a free copy of this book to review from The Tiber River Company.  I received no monetary compensation for this review.


Blessings,
Noreen

Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival

I've linked up with RAnn at Sunday Snippets, This That and the Other Thing my Mighty Macs post since it seems to be causing so much controversy about whether or not it should have been marketed to Catholics as a Catholic movie.  I haven't seen it yet but I do want and will make that determination for myself.

Please join us and catch up on the many other great Catholic Bloggers that participate each week!  Thank you RAnn for gathering us all together each week!  You are a blessing to us all!

Blessings,

Noreen

The Mighty Macs Movie

This movie was released last night around the nation and I cannot wait to see it!  It's based on a true story of a woman named Kathy Rush who went to Immaculata College in Pennsylvania to coach their women's basketball team in 1971.  Immaculata College is a Catholic School that was founded and run by nuns and I don't think they knew what they were getting when they hired Ms. Rush!  It looks to be a great faith based movie.  Here's a clip:

Blessings,
Noreen

Blog Award

What a nice surprise I received from my friend Sue of Sue Elvis Writes.  It's funny though because I am in the middle of asking another blogging friend Lynda of A Heart's Desire Blog to help me improve the look of my blog!  I've been unable to figure out how to center my blog name and another thing or two.  Sue is so kind to like it as it is!!  Thank you Sue!

Part of accepting this award is that I must reveal 7 things about myself that you may not already know about me.  That's a tough one but here it goes:

1.  I'm a casual gal who doesn't enjoy wearing dresses.
2.  I am a procrastinator and I find that is something the Holy Spirit is nudging me out of this habit.
3.  When I was in college and then the workforce, I thought I would never want to be a stay at home mom.
4.  I'm in a partial remission of Rheumatoid Arthritis which means no more heavy medicine!
5.  I'm a strong behind the scenes kind of girl.  Not much for the spotlight.
6.  I used to work as a Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor for mentally ill deaf adults in the inner city.
7.  I went back to college at the age of 25 and stayed to complete my master's degree.

Now it's my turn to nominate 5 bloggers whose blogs are stylishly delightful!  There are so many that qualify in this category so I will nominate the ones that immediately come to mind:

1.  Gardenia from  Love My Little Flower.  Most of you probably know Gardenia for her beautiful photos of her daughter and family.  The beauty of Gardenia's heart flows through her writing whether it be her own blog post or comments on other blogs.

2.  Helen from Catholic Seeking devotes her blog to her love for Christ and His Church.  By reading her blog I stay updated on what is happening in the news related to Catholicism.   She has a pretty new fall template on her blog too!

3.  Monica from Equipping Catholic Families is a gifted artist who uses her talent to teach others about the faith.  Her art work is filled with vibrant color and design that one can't help get excited about faith formation!

4.  Xhonane from Familia Catolica is a new blog to me which has blessed me with many ideas of teaching faith and morals to children.  Xhonane has a heart centered on Jesus and Our Lady that is evident by reading her blog.  I do have to have it translated though!

5.  Mary from Hope Echoes is my prayer blogging partner and I'm truly grateful for her prayers.  She has a similar background of not praying the rosary as a child and being led to it as an adult.   Plus she is a talented quilter.  She is currently working on a baby quilt that is quite lovely!

6.  Anne from Our Gifts of Grace has gorgeous children who take gorgeous photos!  Anne is a great mom who is funny and real in her posting.  You get the feeling that you actually know her through her blog.

I know I went one over but I couldn't help it.  I'm a big fan of the above mentioned blogs and honestly, I could make my list much longer.  I've been blessed by so many bloggers through my 10 months of blogging.

I hope each one of the above bloggers enjoy receiving this award and will happily nominate others as their favorites!  Thank you Sue for thinking of me!!

Blessings,
Noreen

Public Square Rosary Rally 2011

We had a great turnout for our first rosary rally!  We had almost 60 adults and children praying the rosary in union with the rest of the rallies around the country.  What a powerful witness of faith and hope it must have been to the onlookers.

Ours was mostly peaceful in a pretty setting ~ the public sidewalk of our park district site.  Our location was not too far from a railroad crossing and during our one hour of prayer, there were many trains that went by.  This forced the people in the cars to wait on the street and we were the main attraction!!  I pray that many hearts were touched and seeds were planted and that our rally was an instrument of God's loving grace to others.  I hope people were inspired to return to church and deepen their relationship with Jesus Christ and Our Blessed Virgin Mary!!

Here are a few pictures of our rally in progress:

I am linking up with Heidi's Pondering in my Heart Mondays from Sacramental Moments.  I am pondering on the graces and blessings that poured out on those who drove or walked by our rally.  Communal prayer is a powerful witness that can lead people to Christ.

Blessings,
Noreen

Happy Mail

I recently received these wonderful Reverence & Awe Collector Cards and Cathletics Playing Cards in the mail from Monica at Equipping Catholic Families.  She has this fabulous website that has many ideas on delivering faith formation to your family or for your class.  She has her own business called Arma Dei where she sells the products that she makes herself!  She's a gifted artist that has devoted her abilities to teaching others about the depth and beauty of our faith.   I love the richness of the colors that she uses in her art work.  Just simply gorgeous!

She's also much more talented that I am in the crafty department.  She took her Reverence & Awe Cards and made them into a matching memory game on juice lids.  My original plan was to re-create her craft but now that I have these beautiful cards, I may leave them be.  They are so colorful and eye catching that any child would be interested in playing with them and learn about the treasures of the Catholic Church.

Take a look at her cards.

I would highly recommend you visit Monica at Arma Dei Equipping Catholic Families and be inspired on how to teach your children about the Catholic Church.  There is so many more crafts and ideas to explore and they're all filled with information in a delightfully creative learning format... it's a win win situation!!!

I'm linking up with Trish's meme today L.A.C.E. 

Whatever is Lovely. Admirable. Cheerful.  Encouraging.         Philippians 4:8

Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.     Proverbs 22:6

Blessings,
Noreen

Anxiety Update, Rosary Rally, O Sanctissima

I survived my public speaking moments this past weekend!!  I was able to make my announcements with a somewhat steady and clear voice.  I decided not to write down the announcement for the Rosary Rally Crusade because of my hubby's advice.  So, I made it brief and may have left out a detail or two but that's ok.  We advertised it in our church bulletin so the information is available for those who are interested.

As I reflect back on it, I went into autopilot and just did it.  I kept telling myself that "it wasn't about me" it was about Jesus and His mother and that helped a lot.  I thought of Victor's advice: if I was in the crowd watching Jesus be horrifically beaten and mocked, and Pontius Pilate asked "Does anyone here have something to say on behalf of this man?"  If I was there, I pray I would have had the courage to speak but I wasn't.  But I can do so now and I know He was with me while I did it!

Victor ~ I even performed the lector duties adequately and will do it once more on Friday.  Thanks for your support!

Rosary Rally preparations are in full gear!  With the help of my friends; Linda, Charity, Holly and Glenn, all of this is coming together nicely.  I have no idea how many people will show but it doesn't matter.  We are going to praise Jesus through Mary regardless of the weather conditions or crowd size.

I'm working on trying to learn this achingly beautiful song that we will be singing at the Rosary Rally.  Problem is... it's in Latin and I'm not that familiar with it so I've been listening to it over and over to try and memorize it.  Such a beautiful song.

 Love it!  Just wish I could pronounce all the words!

I've linked this post up with Heidi from Sacramental Moments.  You should go and check out her blog.  It's a new one for me and I've been enjoying reading her posts and getting to know her.  She has starts her week off on a reflective note, "Pondering in my Heart Mondays."   It's a great way to start off my week!  This week, the song O Sanctissima is what I've been pondering and it brings tears to my ears to listen to it.

Blessings,
Noreen

Anxiety

I was blog surfing and came upon Heidi's meme called Pondering in My Heart Monday and it's a chance to reflect on what's truly important in our lives.  The below verse is one she is pondering and it spoke LOUDLY to me.

Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  Philippians 4:6


I've been asked to make an announcement on something I am organizing (Rosary Rally Crusade) in my area and it's something I believe in yet, I hate public speaking.  My parish priest asked me to make the announcement to encourage parishioners to join me in this rally which makes sense.  But, I wish the anxious feelings about public speaking would GO AWAY!


To add to that, I was asked to sub as a reader for two days in daily mass and again, my heart started pounding with me thinking "can I do that?"  I know I can but can I do it without my voice shaking?  Pronouncing all the words accurately?  We shall see because I agreed to do it.  


I don't want to be fearful in speaking in God's house so I will try and conquer this fear.  


I'm linking this up with L.A.C.E. because I need all the prayers I can get!!


Please pray for me!!


Blessings,
Noreen

Courageous

Courageous hit the movie theaters this past weekend and I went to it's opening debut.  Happily, it was sold out!  This movie is produced by Sherwood Baptist Church Films in an effort to make "faith-based" movies instead of the usual Hollywood style.  It is the fourth movie written and produced by the film making ministry of Sherwood Baptist Church that stars one of their pastors ~ Alex Kendrick.  The overall message is about fatherhood and responsibility which unfolds throughout the journey of the four main characters who are police officers as well as fathers.  They befriend a fifth main character and the group of men share their struggles with their identity as fathers and the challenges of being a police officer.

Courageous was "preachier" and more intense than the previous films they produced such as Fireproof and Facing the Giants.  In addition, it was also a bit drawn out at times leaving me wondering "where are they going with this?" but otherwise, it had humor, tears and intensity.   Kind of like a Hallmark film or something you would watch on Lifetime.

I enjoyed it through the laughter and tears but I left wondering, would it reach the audience they were intending to reach?  Or would it only be people of faith who flock to the theaters to watch it? And if it did, would the "preachy" style be a turn off for some people?

Blessings,
Noreen