Monday, December 15, 2008

My Rosaries

I was reading another blog and saw a neat thing, a posting of favorite rosaries. Well here are my favorite rosaries, I hardly ever go anywhere without them.
This rosary I carry in my left front pants pocket, I bought the cord rosary in Wichita at one of the yearly Midwest Catholic Conferences, I changed the Crucifix and added a medal of St Benedict, I received from St Merinad Archabbey. I use this rosary when I am in a church alone.

If you see me praying the rosary in public, this mission rosary is the one I am likely to be using. I carry it in my right rear pants pocket, and it is my favorite. I used to make mission rosaries, and the first time I prayed the rosary was using a mission rosary.



I am a Redneck by nature, but am Roman Catholic by the grace of God. I love pocket t-shirts and always wear one instead of a regular t-shirt. This rosary is in the t-shirt pocket. I usually use this rosary when I am in bed at night before I go to sleep, I bought it from the Missouri Province of the Jesuits, it is a good well made rosary.

I have been reading "Rosary: Mysteries, Meditations, and the Telling of the Beads" by Kevin Orlin Johnson. Ph.D. It says that even though the Divine Office was prayed, people also prayed the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary. I was looking in our library this morning and found a copy that I thought had either been lost in a fire or when we moved to Texas. I plan to start this devotion along with the Liturgy of the Hours. As a novice at the LOTH, I have to constantly remind myself to pray it and not to merely read it. Hopefully with experience will come spiritual growth.

I finished a science fiction book last night and have decided to try to not read any books that are not beneficial for my spiritual growth until after the first of the year. I found "The Shoes of the Fisherman" by Morris West in the library also, this book may be questionable as an aid to growth, but I am going to start reading it for my recreational reading.

Pray for me.

Marquis

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Hmmm


CCC 116 Vocab

Exegesis: ex·ege·sis (ek′sə jē′sis), noun pl. exegeses -·ses′ (-sēz′), explanation, critical analysis, or interpretation of a word, literary passage, etc., esp. in the Bible

CCC 82 Vocab

Ecclesial: ec·cle·sial (e klē′zē əl, i-), adjective, of or pertaining to a church

Sunday, November 30, 2008

Chabad and Bombay

Jewish people are our elder brothers and sisters in the faith. God has a covenant with Abraham. God will bless those who bless the jews, and he will curse those who curse the jews.

Gen 12:2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and be thou a blessing.
Gen 12:3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and him that curseth thee will I curse; and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed.'
Gen 12:4 So Abram went, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him; and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran. (JPS)

There exists in this vale of tears, a fine jewish organization called, Chabad, they among other things publish a weekly e-magazine that everyone seeking spiritual growth should read. In Bombay these two representatives of this organization were killed simply because they were jews, no other reason, none whatsoever.



Their names were Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and his wife, Rivka Holtzberg.

Remember them.

Peace

Marquis

(For the poor quality of this post I apologize, for the content, I do not apologize.)





CCC Vocab Words

I have started reading the Catechism of the Catholic Church. This time around I am reading slowly. I am looking up the words I don't understand and writing the definition in the margin.

CCC 37, Abnegation: verb (used with object), -gat⋅ed, -gat⋅ing.
1.
to refuse or deny oneself (some rights, conveniences, etc.); reject; renounce.
2.
to relinquish; give up.

Origin: 1650–60; < L abnegātus denied (ptp. of abnegāre).

CCC 53, Pedagogy: noun, plural -gies.
1.
the function or work of a teacher; teaching.
2.
the art or science of teaching; education; instructional methods.

CCC 55 Solicitude: noun
1.
the state of being solicitous; anxiety or concern.
2.
solicitudes, causes of anxiety or care.
3.
an attitude expressing excessive attentiveness: to show great solicitude about his wife's health.

Origin: 1375–1425; late ME < L sollicitūdō uneasiness of mind, deriv. of sollicitus agitated.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

It looks as if it will be a slow read, for someone as ignorant and uneducated as I.

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Lectio Divina

Here is a simple instruction of Lectio Divina:

The first step is: Lectio - Read a short passage of scripture two or three times out loud.

The second step is: Meditatio - Meditate or ponder on what you read. Meditation is like a cow chewing the cud. She will chew, swallow, and bring it back up later to chew on it some more.

The third step is: Oratio - Praying the scripture back to the Lord. The Bible is filled with God's promises to us. When we pray what He said, He will do it. It is His Word!

The fourth step is: Contemplatio - This is contemplating (not meditation). When you sit on a hillside and look at the reflection of a sunset on a lake you are contemplating. You are just enjoying it. Take time to contemplate on the experience you are having through what you read and learned.

I don't know if this is right or correct; I plan to read more on the subject and attempt to learn the correct and right process.

I do believe Lectio Divina is an essential tool for spiritual growth.

Friday, November 28, 2008

LOTH Vol I

Tomorrow at evening prayer I will start with Volume 1. I look forward to the prayers of Advent and Christmas.

Please pray for all the people who were hurt or killed this weekend in Bombay by the agents of Satan.

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

CCC 1809

I was reading the Catechism of the Catholic Church and came across this at the tail end of 1809. It has been a favorite passage of mine. I know you all are familiar with it, but for some reason it sings to my heart.

"To live well is nothing other than to love God with all one's heart, with all one's soul and with all one's efforts; from this it comes about that love is kept whole and uncorrupted (through temperance). No misfortune can disturb it (and this is fortitude). It obeys only [God] (and this is justice), and is careful in discerning things, so as not to be surprised by deceit or trickery (and this is prudence). CCC1809"

I hope to add regular reading of the Holy Scriptures and of the CCC, to my daily devotions. I pray that the Good Lord allows me to develop my good intention into a regular habit.

Friday, November 21, 2008

I am home sick with a cold. These versions of the divine mercy chaplet give me comfort.



I also like the chanted version.


Peace

Marquis

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

What I am reading.








The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver, I am reading this for fun. It is one of my wife's and it looks interesting. I have read another book by Barbara Kingsolver called Prodigal Summer, I thought it was decent.





Rosary Mysteries, Meditations, and the Telling of the Beads by Kevin Orlin Johnson, Ph.D. This is an excellent book, everyone who prays the rosary should have a copy of this book. I read it a few years ago and took it down to re-read. I am reading it slowly and looking up all references on the internet.







The Imitation of Christ by Thomas A. Kempis. I have almost read this book, I have had it for years and never had read it. Now I understand why is it the most published or sold book after the Holy Bible. I highly recommend it, but get the copy published by Catholic Book Publishing.



Deep Conversion Deep Prayer by Fr. Thomas Dubay, S.M. This is an excellent book, I have read about half of it, and I think I need to read more books by Fr. Dubay. There is an excellent series of talks he does about St. John of the Cross currently available for download for free at www.ewtn.com
I have downloaded it and put in on my ipod.



Enough for now.
Peace be with you.
Marquis

Monday, November 17, 2008

Saturday, November 1, 2008

Saturday Thoughts

Here lately, I have been able to pray Morning and Evening Prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours. It has been a blessing in my life. I have been suspecting that my spiritual life is very shallow. Praying the prayer of the Church is helping me. It is a practice I hope to develop into a daily habit.
A few months ago, I started praying the Rosary on the way to work. I have been praying the Rosary off and on, on the way home from work, this has been helpful to my growth.
I read a blog entry about a personal rule of life. I think this is something I need to pursue. For me it would be a series of daily devotions and spiritual exercises. It will be something I need to work on.
There is a Jewish website, www.chabad.org, that has a weekly online magazine, I would like to reccomend it to everyone. I think it would be valuable for anyone seeking spiritual growth to read. It is refreshing to read another point of view.
If something is different, that does not make it bad or evil, it's just different.

Faith makes all things possible,
Love makes all things easy,
Hope makes all things work.

Friday, September 26, 2008

Liturgy of the Hours

I have decided to start praying the Divine Office again. I will attempt to pray Morning and Evening prayer. I am not a perfect person, so I will not do the prayers on a daily basis, but I intend to try. I feel that it will be well worth the effort.
I have a long drive into work and am able to pray the Rosary on the way to work and on the way home. I feel that it helps me start my day in a good and positive way. For years I have had a spirit of bitterness, I find that prayer is a great way to resist falling into that negative aspect of my life, and is a part of my journey towards being a positive good Christian.

Sunday, August 3, 2008

Sheath for Fiskars Brush Axe


My project for a while is to make a sheath for my Fiskars Brush Axe. As you know a knife has a sheath and a sword has a scabbard. Fiskars also makes the brush axe for Gerber. Gerber's product has an all black handle. I prefer the Fiskars, because the handle is black with an orange tip. It is handier for me to find when I am using it for clearing or cleaning around the house. One of the reasons I want to make a sheath is that the one that comes with the fiskars has a suitcase like handle. It is also a good project to keep me busy. One of my goals is to make the sheath using materials that are free or are very nearly free.
I was able to get this shipping crate from work, I plan to use it for the material to make my sheath.












Here is the crate partially disassembled, I had to quit because of the extreme heat today in Northeast Texas. Redneck rule of life: If it is too hot to work, it too hot to play. Be very careful during the high heat of summer. Time your exposure to the heat, drink plenty of water, and take frequent breaks. It is very easy for the heat to slip up on you and cause a heat stroke. Oh, and when using any kind of tool always wear safety glasses. The good Lord only gave you two eyes, protect them.


Here are the nails I was able to salvage from the crate. They will go into a can for use later around the house. Yes, I know I can buy them very cheaply, but being frugal and reusing items is part of this project. Like most poor people, raised in the rural south, for quite a while I thought that all nails were bent, and they came rusty in a Folgers coffee can.
I shouldn't have to say this but: Always clean up after you are through. It is an essential part of any work you do.
Another Redneck Rule of Life: Happy wife, happy life. Clean up your messes. Your wife is your partner not your maid. (I didn't come up with the Happy wife rule, I saw in on a Gaither DVD, it was either the one made in Canada or the Toronto DVD.)
My wife is a blessing from God. I hope for her to never think that I don't appreciate or love her. I tell her on a daily basis. We are both Christians, and we pray together.
Ok, enough for now, I will post later as the project progesses. Sorry for the quality of this post, I am new at blogging.
Have a great day. May the good Lord richly bless you.
Marquis

P.S. (Read the scriptures, start right now, read for at least 15 minutes, you will be so glad you did. A note on translations: Read the translation that makes you grow closer to God.) mac




Saturday, July 12, 2008

Yardwork







Today I worked in the yard trimming trees. This tree was growing near an old well, and I was concerned that it would break the curb. So I cut it down.

The second photo is how the well looked after the clean up, be easier to mow around. I had been wanting to cut that tree for a while now, it was a sweet gum tree which as far as I am concerned is a weed.

Now the undergrowth under this tree needed cleaning up.










I have no idea what this bush is, but it was in the way. It needed triming up. It is probably also a huge weed, I have yet to see it bloom.




Now this is how it looks all cleaned up. -------------------->




Here are some of my tools for yardwork, if you notice you will see that most of the tools are made by Fiskars. I am hooked on their tools they are all quality. I hope to buy more in the future.

Saturday, July 5, 2008

Fourth of July in Bald Knob, Arkansas


My wife and I went with my Uncle and His wife to Bald Knob, Arkansas for the Fourth of July. We went to a Penecostal Church for their Fellowship Friday. There was plenty of good food. I believe the people there are good, sincere, Christians. If you are ever up that way you should stop in and visit with them. It was the first time I had been to a Penecostal service. I did enjoy the fellowship and preaching. There were pastors from Penecostal Churches from all around the area. Their first friday meetings rotate from church to church. The next fellowship meeting in Bald Knob will be in about four months.
Peace
Marquis

Sunday, June 1, 2008

Sunday Message

The Sunday message today was good, the theme of the mesage was "Confess, Yield, Serve.
The key verse seemed to be Romans 6:11.

Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord (KJV)

In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. (NIV)

Consequently, you too must think of yourselves as (being) dead to sin and living for God in Christ Jesus. (NAB)

So you should consider yourselves dead to sin and able to live for the glory of God through Christ Jesus (NLT)

Confess, Yield, Serve will be my keywords this week.

People are always making New Year's Resolutions, I suggest that a person carries it a step further, why not make Resolutions at the first of the month?

That being said, my resolutions for the month of June 2008 are:

1. Pray constantly.
2. Study the Scriptures.
3. Confess my sins.
4. Quit my cycle of sin, repent, confess.... to try to quit sinning; I will choose one glaring flaw and work on it.

My hope is that every one who reads this is blessed.

ADONAI bless thee, and keep thee: ADONAI make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: ADONAI lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. Numbers 6:24-26 (IAV)

Saturday, May 31, 2008

Duty, Honor, and Loyalty

I believe that there are a few things that a person needs in his life to have a fuller life.

Duty: something that one is expected or required to do by moral or legal obligation

Honor: honesty, fairness, or integrity in one's beliefs and actions

Loyalty:
1.
the state or quality of being loyal; faithfulness to commitments or obligations.
2.
faithful adherence to a sovereign, government, leader, cause, etc.

http://dictionary.reference.com/

Sunday, May 18, 2008

Visit to Miami

I went to Miami last weekend to watch my wife's daughter graduate from U of Miami. We stayed in a condo in a building called Blue. The view was great. I could have sit there for a week looking out the windows.
The graduation was nice the guest speaker was Angela Lansbury. They hooded her and made her a Doctor of something.
After the graduation we went to a Cuban Restaurant Coral Gables called Sergios, it was great. The food was good, it was inexpensive and the portions were large. I love to eat and they brought more food than I can eat, which is rare.
The next day we went to Coconut Grove and ate lunch at a Restaurant called Tu Tu Tango, the food was good. That part of town has artists and studios displaying great art. There is a Episcopal Church there that has a small gallery in the back of the grounds which has really great religious icons.
In Miami, there is a section of town called the Design District and on the second Saturday of the month, they have the galleries open late at night. There are bands on the streets playing music. The art is awesome, had I an unlimited budget, I would have bought a truckload of it, it was that good. I would reccomend it to anyone, you don't have to like art to enjoy the experience.
Later that night we went to Tobacco Junction in downtown Miami it is on one of the 7th streets. The food there is excellent, I had chicken wings, they were huge, and the sause was great, lots of flavor, but without the heat of too many spices to ruin the taste. There was a live band. It played Raggae music. I am an ignorant redneck hick, but that music was good. I don't remember but I think the name of the band was Jaffe.
Sunday morning we went and walked on the beach at South Beach, I did like walking on the beach looking for rocks and seashells.
I may never go back to Miami, but I did enjoy the visit.

Redneck Hick in Miami

Last weekend, I went to Miami to watch my wife's daughter graduate from the U of Miami. We spent the weekend with her in a condo named Blue. The view was great. I could have spent days just looking at the view.

After the graduation Add Imagewe went to Coral Gables and ate supper at a restaurant called "Sergios", it was Cuban and the food was great. Large portions and low prices, I will never go back to Miami, but if I did I would want to eat there again.

Saturday, May 3, 2008

Evidence of Excellence

If you were arrested for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you? If you were found in your car unconscious, would those who found know you were a Christian? If, there were a major disaster and your body was found years later, would they know you were a Christian?
Wear a Cross or Crucifix. Carry your bible with you wherever you go. Keep your prayer cards and medals with you. You never know when you step outside your door, it may be the last time you are there....

Thursday, May 1, 2008

1 Corinthians Chapter 1

I plan to start studying the book of 1 Corinthians during the Month of May. I am new at this, so it will be a new experience for me. I plan all month to read 1 Corinthians, and attempt to do a detailed bible study. I also plan to log my progress, if any, in a journal. Your prayers will be greatly appreciated.

Reading Science Fiction

I have been reading a trilogy by S.M. Stirling, "Dies the Fire", "The Protector's War", and "Meeting at Corvallis". They are books about alternate history. I have read "Dies the Fire" and "The Protector's War", and I am on page 139 of "Meeting at Corvallis". The first book, so far is the best. The action seems to bog down in the second book. I usually don't start reading a series, because sometimes, I am compelled to read the whole series. One thing to note about the books is that they explain in way too much detail, Wicca and it's pantheon of Gods. They are almost like a prayerbook to strange deities that I don't care to read about. I certainly don't care to read the prayers to them. I don't believe that Wicca is the Old Religion, I think it is a bunch of made up and fabricated lies, by New Agers, designed to lure people away from the True Religion, Christianity. I do not recommend the books.

Sunday, March 9, 2008

Celebration at Church

Today at church we celebrated the pastor's tenth year serving at the church. There was a shared meal after services. Those ladies are all excellent cooks. I love to eat. (I once thought "buffet" was the french word for food.)
A sad but happy note: Saturday as a week ago, there was a Christian youth rally at the local high school. At that rally young adults made decisions for Christ. Last Friday started with cold rain mixed with snow, as I was driving to work I met a volunteer firetruck headed to a fire. Today I found out that one of the young adults that decided to live for Christ, had been called home to be with the Lord. The firetruck I saw, was headed to that home.
If you are thinking about living with Christ in your life, today, right now, is the time to start. We have no idea when the good Lord is going to call us home. Please make a decision now, do not wait until later, you may not have a later.
Two bible study links: the first is for e-Sword, it is a free download, and there are free modules to download to enhance it. It is a pretty awesome program. http://www.e-sword.net/
The second is an bible study tool, I think it is really good also, it is an online only source, it has twenty five different versions of the bible available and is pretty handy. http://bible.christianity.com/

Enough for now.
May God bless you all.
Marquis