The Possibility of the Impossible

Around three am last night I couldn’t sleep. So I did what I often do in the case of sleeplessness. I got up, heated some milk, toasted a slice of bread, and went outside on the deck. We are fortunate to live in an area where city lights do not interfere with viewing the stars in the night sky and there was no moon. The contrast of the diminutive spark-like dots and the vast expanse of darkness where they existed, never ceased to amaze me.

This morning I looked up the readings for today and also saw it is the Feast of the Annunciation of Our Lord when the Archangel Gabriel appeared to the Mary and announced that she would conceive and bear a child. She asked how could that be possible for she was a virgin. The angel replied that the Holy Spirit would come upon her and the child she would bear would be the Son of God. And furthermore, the angel added Mary’s elderly cousin Elizabeth had conceived and was in her sixth month carrying a son.

Finally, Gabriel answered Mary’s question : “For with God nothing will be impossible.” And she said, “…be it to me according to thy word.” Did this teenage girl in her own reasoning understand how it could be possible physically? Of course not; but she did believe the ‘possibility of the impossible’ with God.

Today we’ll experience a few minutes of darkness as the path of the moon obstructs the light of the sun. Two days ago we felt the movement of the earth beneath us as a 4.8 earthquake took place. Like the stars above in the night sky, the quake reminded us of how minute we are in relation to the Creator.

How did I feel when the house shook and a strange rumble accompanied the movement? It was a feeling of peace because I knew this was beyond my control but somehow I trusted in the One who was shaking us up and revealing His power. Thankfully no devastation took place.

Our Lady of Windflowers revisited

On Easter afternoon my husband and I went to a friends house to drop off a card and plant. We expected her to be home but when I knocked on her front door and also rang the bell several times there was no answer. It seemed she was not home so I turned around to leave but noticed some tiny blue specks in her front yard. I walked over to the spot and saw they were little windflowers about a dozen or so growing in the grass. It reminded me of a poem I wrote and posted in my blog on July 7, 2019. I decided to post the poem again this morning:

There on the lap of Mary sits the One who holds our every hope Who looks down on creation at wonders great and small The Babe with blue bird lightly held wings spread as if to fly

As He the Son of heaven peers below intently viewing Tiny windflowers dots of color growing in the meadow. She adoring her sweet child as she sits upon a rock Her Mantle sheer and flowing blowing in the breeze.

They look upon the windflowers and it seems a sadness looms For as they bloom a while and wither so shall we Yet they recede and bloom again, as we shall live anew We, like tiny windflowers scattered on the earth

He bends to watch each flower as He does for you and me Then tilts His head toward the Lady dressed in blue Who guides us as a Mother, and loves us as her own And holds us close to Jesus as we were meant to be.

DJ Pasternak June 2019

The funny thing was our friend was home but her she was raking in the back yard a distance away and not visible from the front of her house. We never got to see her on Easter but called that evening. Today is April Fools Day but we were unintentionally fooled yesterday. Yet if not going there, I would not have revisited the poem or seen the delicate little Windflowers.

Morning

No Matter the struggles of night, the dreary rising from bed When daybreak comes known through light, the soul rises to meet the day. And when cloudy or partly so the light seen east surprises Even though we know it will rise due to His faithfulness

This morning it was glorious, the sliver of light above the horizon Shown with soft hues of color, violet, pink, orange and red. The rest of the sky gray with clouds bearing water for the spring buds Soon to grace us with their presence, beauty to be unfurled in bloom.

The greatness of the love of Him, radiant to light the morn. Could not but show His face

April 8, 2017

You Can’t Make This Stuff Up

Last night after a wonderful evening of celebrating a birthday with our family, my husband and I watched a replay of the President’s State of the Union Speech. For a man called by one of his special counsel not competent to stand trial for offenses, he rallied to project a vigorous oration in rapid strung together sentences. I guess it proves he is ready and able to be elected and serve four more years as President of these United States of America?

Let’s say, this is obvious, attested to by the joyous and perhaps relieved ovations from his constituents. Some of the ‘highlights’ of the speech included: The great economy we are experiencing and the much lower inflation rate as well. A constant referral to ‘my predecessor’ who really got everything wrong in the last administration.

Under his ‘predecessor’, freedom of democracy was under attack, even comparing the severity to the time of the Civil War. Ukraine can defeat Putin and we will not send any American troops. Biden’s ‘predecessor’ said to “the h… let Putin do whatever he wants” and this same ’predecessor’ bowed down to Putin. The Prsident went on and on about how Ukraine was being invaded and we must send money to protect their nation from the Russian dictator.

In ad nauseam, speaking about the state of Ukraine, he failed to mention the most pressing threat to the United States until much later in his speech: invasion by millions of ‘undocumented immigrants’ according to the rubric of Nancy Pelosi or aptly described by President Biden himself as ‘illegal immigrants’.

The speech was for us, tortuous and upsetting especially the emphasis on reinstating Roe V Wade and a national law legalizing abortion in every state of the union. (After all we need to make room for the ‘newcomers’ and control population of the palefaces. This is my interpretation not the president’s words.)

On rethinking the speech I believe it clarifies the position of our present administration, as well as, the nefarious characters behind the scenes. For heavens sake, they have laid out for all of us their ‘game plan’. They actually did us a favor. Because we know their strategies for the battle we are experiencing.

As is so often the case, one line from an Old Testament prophet succinctly summarizes the President’s speech on the state of the union.

This is the nation that did not obey the voice of the Lord their God, and did not accept discipline; truth has perished; it is cut off from their lips. Jeremiah 7:28

It is difficult, but do watch the replay of the speech. There is a great deal more than covered here.

” Who Do You Say that I Am? “

Sometimes a phrase in the scriptures bothers me not knowing its real meaning. At times I research what is meant and find the answers. Every time I read or heard the Son of Man referring to Jesus, I was unsure why the title is given to Him because he is the Son of God.  I never bothered to reconcile this in my own mind.

In the Gospel reading today  the mother of the Sons of Zebedee asks Jesus to place them on His left and His right in His kingdom. In reply Jesus tells her it is not His to decide but the Father’s.  He also says: “…whoever will be great among you must be your servant; whoever would be first among you must be your slave. Jesus continues instructing the apostles: Even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.

Then Jesus asks the twelve, who people say that He is. They reply John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, or one of the other prophets. But he goes further asking: Who do you say that I am?  All of them are silent until Peter replies: You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.

This time I asked my friend, Google, and the simple truth revealed itself. It was so evident yet I did not see it. Jesus is the Son of God but also the Son of Man. He is both divine and human. Although I knew this, I didn’t understand it. And furthermore, because we are called to imitate Him, being human as He is, we must suffer in some way as He suffered. And as He is The Son of God so we are sons and daughters of God the Father. It is the great mystery of suffering and death and resurrection and eternal life !

For Such a Time as This: Continued

For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses himself. Luke 9:25

What kind of time is — 2024? Something is going on, something sinister in the world. Seriously sinister. It reminds me of another time, in a way. 

When my children were young they liked to watch a cartoon reminiscent of a present day threat–world domination. We hear about the the world organizations whether the WHO ( World health Organization ) or the IPPC ( the UN’s Intergovernmental  Panel on Climate Change ) or some of the other ‘sustainability organizations’. Some time ago, I read quite a lot about sustainability which in a one word explanation means–CONTROL.

In that aforementioned, now classic, cartoon ‘Pinky and The Brain’ the concept is illustrated quite simply and hilariously, as well. Pinky is like many of us interested in diversions like TV shows but cajoled into participating in the  sinister plans of The Brain, a super intelligent scientist with Big Plans. Fortunately none of them come to fruition. As I recall, many of his attempts to control the world involve controlling the weather.

We might learn something from these cartoon episodes, applicable to such a time as this we are living in today. In the end the truth is: no one is able to control the world forever except the Creator, a far superior Intelligence.

For Such a Time as this

For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place but you and your family will perish. And who knows that you have come to your royal position, for such a time as this. Esther 4:14

What kind of time is this? In our life, in our country, in the world? If you are familiar with the book of Esther, you will know that she was a beautiful young woman raised by her uncle in the Jewish faith. There is much controversy about the authenticity of this book historically. In fact Martin Luther removed it from the Bible. It remains in the Catholic Bible and reflects a time much like our own.

At some point Esther became Queen through unconventional means by her Uncle Mordechai who was about to die because he was Jewish. Esther kept her relationship to Mordechai secret until the time came for her to rescue him and all the Jews in Susa condemned to death because of the lies of an evil, power hungry man. Prejudice conceived by lies and spread by the enemy caused division.

Division and lies are characteristics of Satan. If you think He doesn’t exist, look around you. There is an almost 50/50 division in our own country. Pro life verses pro death, pro God verses no God and all the other lies that stem from these divisions. This morning I saw a short video on two Marches that took place a week ago in Washington DC one after the other: The March for Life and the ‘Women’s’ March. You can find it on the TFP website; it brings to light the reality of Satan and his lies rampant in our country and the world.

To be continued

Nativity

Cardboard stable, manger scene
White bulb radiant above the creche
Tiny arms outstretched open to the woman
Smiling on her newborn son

Little Jesus, Son of God
Residing in a lowly stable
Blessed Mother, faithful husband
Journeyed to the town of bread 

Feed my sheep, care for my lambs
Bread of angels given gladly
Blood and wine, body and bread
Mystery by which we are fed.  

If you knew… Part 3

12)  At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror, but then face to face. At present I know partially but then I shall know fully, as I am fully known. 13) For faith, hope, love, remain; but the greatest of these is love.  Corinthians 13

On the first Sunday of advent we had a guest priest and his homily was based on three words: waiting, remembering, and hope. He went back to the period in history when the Jews returned to Israel after their captivity in Babylon. They found everything destroyed, their beloved Jerusalem in ruins. It seemed hopeless after waiting forty years to see their homeland. How did they regain their hope? It was by remembering the past: being miraculously led out of Egypt by Moses, the cleansing of the Temple by Judas Maccabees, etc etc. 

Fr Paul related this to the season of Advent, a time of waiting and remembering and finding hope in those remembrances. The miraculous entry of God’s Son into our world as one of us, born of a virgin, His life, death, resurrection, ascension into heaven, and the promise of His return. All this because of His love for us.

This brings me to the third image that turned up one day  a few years ago that reminded me of the Little Jesus picture and the painting of the Infant Jesus of Mary Alice. World travelers and good friends of ours brought back a handkerchief from Medjugorje with an embroidered picture of the Blessed Mother on one corner. They stood in line in order to touch the cloth to the knee of  statue of Jesus oozing fluid. The words on the handkerchief were: If you knew how much I love you you’d cry for joy. These are Memories found to bring Hope and Love in this time of waiting for Christmas. Now we know in part…                ( Scroll Down to read Part 2 and Part 1 )

If You knew… Part 2

I should have written about these things years ago, but never thought I would forget the events or wait so long to write about them. It reminds me of St Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 13:9: At present I know partially; then I shall know fully as I am fully known. With this in mind, I continue the story

Our priest friend, Fr Bob, was introduced to us by another person I met while writing a feature story for a Journalism class  at county college. I was interested in the Apparitions of the Blessed Mother and found a woman who had been visiting Conyers, Ga, a site not yet approved. Christina also knew a great deal about other apparition sites like Medjugorje in Bosnia Herzegovina. She told me about the Blue Army Shrine for Our Lady of Fatima which was about 45 minutes away. Fr Bob was the priest assigned there at the time.

He remained for a some years and during that period I attended Masses at the shrine, went to him for confession and met to speak with him about obstacles in my life back then. He came to bless our house and ate with us a couple of times. My friend told me about his wife, Mary Alice, and gave me a book about her life written by a niece. Several of my friends went to assist him in correlating his wife’s diary writings, but I never heard if they ever completed the work; just one more unknown in this  story.

The book Angel Without Wings written by Father Bob’s niece, M. Katherine Mason Weil, documents her many sufferings and  also describes her as an extremely private and humble woman who didn’t want anything revealed about her spiritual gifts until after her death. I have no doubt about her holiness and spiritual  gifts because of our friendship with Father Bob. The picture below was copied from the book Angel Without Wings. It was one her many visions described therein and painted by one of the Dominic nuns she served with.