CARMEL'S OWN: March 2008

Monday, March 24, 2008

DANCING

**~~**~~Dancing~~**~~**

I strayed away and turned to sin

Allowing the Tempter to enter in,

Somewhere along a righteous way

I slid headlong into moral decay.

Unwitting with the Devil I danced,

In his promenade of sin I pranced,

Proudly waltzing to his profane song

As his chokehold grew ever strong.

I danced at the end of his string

As a puppet to chants he'd sing,

I danced for pleasures of the flesh

And tangled deeper in evils mesh.

Round and round I sinfully whirled

Until Satan's hellish plan unfurled,

He was thieving bits of me each day

Slyly stealing chips of my soul away.

I was the only puppet at this dance

And it was not by random chance,

When I left God and fell by the way,

Satan picked me to dance that day.

I'd slid to the bottom of a dark hole

And Satan was attacking my soul,

I looked up to Jesus from that pit

For Christ is the one way out of it.

Lift me high oh Redeemer I prayed,

Bear me up from where I've strayed,

Forgive my sin and restore me whole,

I lay before you my tattered soul.

In God's mercy my life spun around

In His grace I pace on holy ground,

My path to Heaven is shining bright,

My eternal home is clearly in sight.

God redeemed me from a life of sin

And tenderly seeded His love within,

Never again will I waltz to Satan's fife,

I dance only for God and eternal life.

>©Written by: Kenneth J. Ellison 03-02-08

2nd Sunday of Easter: 30 March 2008 - John 20,19-31 The Annunciation of the Lord: 31 March 2008 - Luke 1,26-38 Tuesday: 1 April 2008 - John 3,7b-15 Wednesday: 2 April 2008 - John 3,16-21 Thursday: 3 April 2008 - John 3,31-36 Friday: 4 April 2008 - John 6,1-15 Saturday: 5 April 2008 - John 6,16-21
3rd Sunday of Easter: 6 April 2008 - Luke 24,13-35 Monday: 7 April 2008 - John 6,22-29 Tuesday: 8 April 2008 - John 6,30-35 Wednesday: 9 April 2008 - John 6,35-40 Thursday: 10 April 2008 - John 6,44-51 Friday: 11 April 2008 - John 6,52-59 Saturday: 12 April 2008 - John 6,60-69
4th Sunday of Easter: 13 April 2008 - John 10,1-10 Monday: 14 April 2008 - John 10,11-18 Tuesday: 15 April 2008 - John 10,22-30 Wednesday: 16 April 2008 - John 12,44-50 Thursday: 17 April 2008 - John 13,16-20 Friday: 18 April 2008 - John 14,1-6 Saturday: 19 April 2008 - John 14,7-14

Sunday, March 16, 2008

HOLY WEEK

A Blessed and Happy Easter to ALL
Paschal Lamb

One of the most common Christian symbols, especially associated with Easter, is the lamb. It is often depicted with a banner that bears a cross, and it is known as the Agnus Dei, meaning “lamb of God” in Latin.

The origin of the symbol is related directly to the Jewish Passover. In ancient times the Jews sacrificed a lamb in the course of the festival. The early Christians, most of whom were Hebrews, associated the sacrifice of the lamb with Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. They connected the joyous Passover festival, which commemorates the liberation of the Hebrews from their years of bondage in Egypt, with the liberation from death represented by the resurrection.

The popularity of lamb as an Easter food is undoubtedly related to its importance as a symbol. During the Middle Ages roast lamb became the traditional main course of the pope’s Easter dinner, and it is still customarily served on Easter Sunday in many European countries. Decorative lambs made of candy or cake are also frequently seen at Easter time.

We have been redeemed by the Son of God made Man.

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

THE UNIQUE HOLINESS OF MARY

It is no wonder therefore that the usage prevailed among the Fathers whereby they called the mother of God entirely holy and free from all stain of sin, as though fashioned by the Holy Spirit and formed as a new creature. Adorned from the first instant of her conception with the radiance of an entirely unique holiness, the Virgin of Nazareth is greeted, on God's command, by an angel messenger as "full of grace", and to the heavenly messenger she replies, "Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done unto me according to thy word." Thus Mary, a daughter of Adam, consenting to the Divine Word, became the mother of Jesus, the one and only Mediator. Embracing God's salvific will with a full heart and impeded by no sin, she devoted herself totally as a handmaid of the Lord to the person and work of her Son, under Him and with Him, by the grace of almighty God, serving the mystery of redemption.

Lumen Gentium Chapter VIII §56 Pope Paul VI, November 21, 1964

5th Sunday of Lent: 9 March 2008 - John 11,1-45 Monday: 10 March 2008 - John 8,1-11 Tuesday: 11 March 2008 - John 8,21-30 Wednesday: 12 March 2008 - John 8,31-42 Thursday: 13 March 2008 - John 8,51-59 Friday: 14 March 2008 - John 10,31-42 Saint Joseph: 15 March 2008 - Mt 1,16.18-21.24
Palm Sunday: 16 March 2008 - Mt 26,14-27,66 Monday: 17 March 2008 - John 12,1-11 Tuesday: 18 March 2008 - John 13,21-33.36-38 Wednesday: 19 March 2008 - Matthew 26,14-25 Holy Thursday: 20 March 2008 - John 13,1-15 Good Friday: 21 March 2008 - John 18,1-19,42Holy Saturday: 22 March 2008
The Resurrection of the Lord: 23 March 2008 - John 20,1-9 Monday: 24 March 2008 - Matthew 28,8-15 Tuesday: 25 March 2008 - John 20,11-18 Wednesday: 26 March 2008 - Luke 24,13-35 Thursday: 27 March 2008 - Luke 24,35-48 Friday: 28 March 2008 - John 21,1-14 Saturday: 29 March 2008 - Mark 16,9-15

Sunday, March 2, 2008

EUROPE and MARY

4th Sunday of Lent: 2 March 2008 - John 9,1-41 Monday: 3 March 2008 - John 4,43-54 Tuesday: 4 March 2008 - John 5,1-16 Wednesday: 5 March 2008 - John 5,17-30 Thursday: 6 March 2008 - John 5,31-47 Friday: 7 March 2008 - John 7,1-2.10.25-30 Saturday: 8 March 2008 - John 7,40-53

Trusting in Mary

Pope John Paul II gave the conclusion of his Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in Europa this title: "Trusting in Mary."

Commenting on the vision from the Book of Revelation, which discloses the "great sign" in heaven, "a woman robed with the sun", engaged in a monumental struggle with the dragon, he invited the Church in Europe to resolutely turn to Mary to overcome the hardships the continent faced at the beginning of the new millennium. Far from being an isolated act, entrustment to Mary plunges us into the history of Salvation and makes us take stock of the present time as a phase of this Universal History.

"The whole Church, then, looks to Mary. Thanks to the countless Marian shrines dotting the nations of the continent, devotion to Mary is very strong and widespread among the peoples of Europe. The Church in Europe is urged to continue to contemplate Mary, in the knowledge that she is "maternally present and sharing in the many complicated problems which today beset the lives of individuals, families, and nations" and is "helping the Christian people in the constant struggle between good and evil, to ensure that Europe does not fall, and if the fall is a fact, that it 'rises again. "

cfr: John Paul II, "Ecclesia in Europa", June 28, 2003.