Star Shine

GOD's promises are like the STARS, the darker the night the brighter they SHINE!

11 BEATITUDES FOR A MARRIED COUPLE

    

1.  Blessed are the husband and wife who continue to be affectionate, considerate and loving after the wedding bells have stopped ringing.
2.  Blessed are the husband and wife who are as polite and courteous to one another as they are to their friends.
3. Blessed are they who have a sense of humor, their marriage shall be much brighter.
4. Blessed are the parents who abstain from alcohol (I would add ", tobacco, and drugs"),  their children will surely follow their example.
5. Blessed are they who are faithful to each other and mutually helpful. God will surely guide them.
6. Blessed are the husband and wife who thank God for good things which come to them. They shall receive both good things and thankful children.
7. Blessed are the parents who recognize their children as gifts from God, their home shall be filled with love.
8. Blessed are those mates who make their home a place "where seldom is heard a  discouraging word". They shall inspire others to do likewise.
9. Blessed are the parents who attend and support their church. Their children shall develop a strong faith.
10. Blessed is the couple who are good stewards of all God's gifts, their children will bless them and follow their example.
11. Blessed are all those whose lives are a testimony of faith in God, they shall be the channels through which God's kingdom will come on earth. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow them all the days of their lives and they shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Source: The Christian Builder

You are Blessed

Just wanted to share with you these thought provoking messages I received through email. Indeed, we try not to take GOD's blessings for granted and give thanks to HIM each day for all the blessings He bestowed upon us. But, being human as we are, there are times that we forget about the little blessings that are of great importance in our lives compared to those who have less or nothing at all.

IF YOU WAKE UP THIS MORNING, with more health than illness, you are more blessed than the millions who will not survive the week.

IF YOU HAVE FOOD IN YOUR REFRIGERATOR, clothes on your back, a roof over your head and place to sleep, you are richer than 75 percent of this world.

IF YOU HAVE MONEY IN THE BANK, in your wallet and spare change in a dish someplace, you are among the top 8 percent of the world's wealthy.

IF YOUR PARENTS ARE STILL MARRIED AND ALIVE, you are very rare especially in the United States.

IF YOU HOLD UP YOUR HEAD WITH A SMILE ON YOUR FACE and are truly thankful of your life and all the things you have, you are blessed more than those who does not know how to say even a word of thanks.

IF YOU CAN HOLD SOMEONE'S HAND hug them or even touch them on the shoulder, you are blessed because you can offer GOD'S healing touch.

IF YOU HAVE NEVER EXPERIENCED the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony or torture or the pangs of starvation, you are ahead of 20 million people around the world.

IF YOU ATTEND A CHURCH MEETING without fear of harassment, torture or death, you are blessed than almost three billion people in the planet.

IF YOU CAN READ THIS MESSAGE, you are blessed than over two billion people in the world who cannot read anything at all.

YOU ARE BLESSED in so many ways you may never even know.

Thank You for this Day of Life

O God,

I thank You for this day of life

for eyes to see the sky

for ears to hear the birds

for feet to walk amidst the trees

for hands to pick the flowers from the earth

for a sense of smell to breathe

in the sweet perfumes of nature

for a mind to think about and appreciate

the magic of everyday miracles

for a spirit to swell in joy

at Your mighty presence everywhere.

Manic Monday

Six o'clock already
I was just in the middle of a dream
I was kissin' Valentino
By a crystal blue Italian stream
But I can't be late
'Cause then I guess I just won't get paid
These are the days
When you wish your bed was already made

It's just another manic Monday
I wish it was Sunday
'Cause that's my funday
My I don't have to runday
It's just another manic Monday

Have to catch an early train
Got to be to work by nine
AND IT’S ALREADY 8:25AM
And if I had an air-o-plane
I still couldn't make it on time
'Cause it takes me so long
Just to figure out what I'm gonna wear...

…I am so BLESSED like all work at home moms that we don’t actually have to rush because we work from home!...

SOURCE: Manic Monday by the Bangles

Thank You, I am Still Here

Goodbye and Hello Rainy Sunshine

Hello month of love and wedding! Goodbye May sunshine and summer season.

I don' know about you but time is not only flying when I am having fun! It's also levitating and invigorating...

But soon enough the kids will be at school; fun season is over since summer is over and rainy season is around the corner. Ask the kids how that goes. Yes, here we are halfway through this beautiful year landing smack in the middle of a very lovable month. Poetry month is over, summer sky is fading but we should also embrace the fulfillment of the promise made by months gone by; the promise of love and fruitful weddings bursting all over the country. Let's enjoy the song that Junes sings to itself, it will likely be a beautiful music to our ears...

Aah, it's really over, first half of the year has come and my unfolding projects and plans still rolling along. Much love and lots of thanks to all those who supports me for this project.

I hope that you had a beautiful sunny summer drenched in lots and lots of love. And let's all welcome the wet season with much gratitude in our heart for rain is a blessing as much as the sunshine...

Enjoy this Beautiful Day

Let us all enjoy this beautiful day by offering all our burdens to God. Let us not forget to take our spiritual Vitamin C and have faith that God will provide...
"Place all your worries on Him since He takes care of you". – 1Peter 5:7

*And, remember... If life happens to deliver a situation to you that you cannot handle, do NOT attempt to resolve it yourself! Kindly put it in the SFGTD box (something for God to do). I'm sure HE will get to it in HIS TIME. All situations will be resolved, but in HIS time, not yours.

*Once your request is placed into the box, do not hold onto it by worrying about it. Instead, focus on all the wonderful things that are present in your life now. Start to count your blessings and name them one by one.

*If you find yourself stuck in traffic, don't despair. There are people in this world for whom driving is an unheard of. You're lucky you have a car to drive or if you're not driving a car you're even luckier that someone is driving for you!

*Should you have a bad day at work; think of the man who has been out of work for years...be grateful that you are earning some for you and your family.

*Should you despair over a relationship gone bad; think of the person who has never known what it's like to love and be loved in return...what a blessing to have felt love and loved in return!

*Should you grieve the passing of another weekend; think of the woman in dire straits, working twelve hours a day, seven days a week to feed her children. You're lucky you spent your weekend with your family and friends.

*Should your car break down, leaving you miles away from assistance; think of the paraplegic who would love the opportunity to take that walk.

*Should you notice a new gray hair in the mirror; think of the cancer patient in chemo who wishes she had hair to examine. 

*Should you find yourself at a loss and pondering what is life all about, asking what is my purpose? Be thankful. There are those who didn't live long enough to get the opportunity to ponder about life.

*Should you find yourself the victim of other people's bitterness, ignorance, smallness or insecurities; remember, things could be worse. You could be one of them!

*Lucky you, you are reading this...Should you decide to share this to a friend: Thank you. You may have touched their life in ways you will never know! 
Now live your life beautifully and gratefully!


Source/reference: Email sent to me two years ago.

A Short Story: At Least Saint Joseph Will Have Pity on Me!

As a grown man in Paris, Maximin Giraud, one of the seer of the La Salette apparitions, was reduced to such poverty that he was forced to pawn a piece of his clothing. Then, completely broke and without food, he entered the church of Saint Sulpice to kneel before the altar of the Blessed Virgin Mary. « I’m hungry, my good Mother," he said, "are you going to let me starve? I did everything you asked of me. I communicated to all your people the serious and solemn warnings you came to bring. I’m about to faint from hunger. If you won’t to pull me out of my misery I’ll turn to your husband Saint Joseph, who I'm sure will have pity on me! » 

Weakened by prolonged fasting, he soon fell asleep. A stranger woke him up and invited him to a restaurant, ordering him a hearty meal. When he had satisfied his hunger, the stranger paid the waiter and told Maximin to go to the pawn shop to redeem the piece of clothing he had pawned. He added that he would find in the pocket of that garment a banknote that would get him out of poverty. With these words he was gone and Maximin never found out who the man was. How did a perfect stranger know that he had pawned his garment? How did he know that there was some money in the pocket of that piece of clothing ensuring Maximin’s future? So, unable to give a rational explanation to such an extraordinary experience, he always thought that the stranger was Saint Joseph himself.

***Leon Bloy, Celle qui pleure - The Woman Who Cries (Notre Dame de la Salette), 1908

Pentecost Sunday

Today is Pentecost Sunday, with Christmas and Easter, ranks among the great feasts of Christianity . It commemorates not only the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and Disciples, but also the fruits and effects of that event: the completion of the work of redemption, the fullness of grace for the Church and its children, and the gift of faith for all nations. 

Today at Mass, particularly at holy Communion, the power of the Holy Spirit will come down upon us; fiery tongues will not be seen, but invisible tongues of fire will not be absent. There was still another external manifestation of the Holy Spirit; the apostles and disciples were enabled to speak various languages.

The prayer we pray all year round comes into its own on Pentecost. Once more, with feeling, we call upon the Holy Spirit to help us in all manner of ordinary or great endeavors:

Come, Holy Spirit, 
fill the hearts of thy Faithful; 

and enkindle in them the fire of Thy love.

Send forth Thy Spirit
and they shall be created,
and thou shalt renew the face of the earth.

We know well by faith that the Holy Spirit is the love that the Father and the Eternal Word bear one to the other; and therefore the gift of love which the Lord infuses into our souls, and which is the greatest of all gifts is particularly attributed to the Holy Spirit.

 As St. Paul says, "The charity of God is poured forth in our hearts by the Holy Spirit Who is given to us" (Romans 5:5).

Here's a novena, therefore, that we must consider, above all, the great value of divine love, in order that we may desire to obtain it, and endeavor, by devout exercises, and especially by prayer, to be made partakes of it, since God has promised it to him who asks for it with humility: "Your Father from heaven will give the good Spirit to them that ask Him" (from My Prayer Book, by Father F. X. Lasance). 
Novena to the Holy Spirit


According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church and descriptions outlined by St. Thomas Aquinas in the Summa Theologica, these are the seven gifts of the Holly Spirit. Click the link to read more of the  Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit.

Source/Reference: Catholic Culture, 7gifts of the Holy Spirit
Image source: Photobucket.com

Count Your Blessings

God gave you 86,400 seconds today, did you use one to say thank you? I hope you did! Before you fall asleep, reflect on the day and identify 5 things you are grateful for. Gratitude makes us happier and more beautiful inside out! We must always remember that gratitude is the best attitude, however small that blessing given to us; don't forget to say "thank you!" ☺

My first blessing for today:  I am grateful for having accomplished another obligation to my son; he just had the sacrament of confirmation! Yey! ☺ My husband and I consider this a blessing in our family because in a way, we are blessed to have a son who is willingly accepting and practicing the faith we already have.

Second blessing for today:  I met Riza and Dennis; they are our neighbors and acquaintance not really a close friend but when we asked them to become our son's sponsor, they were so happy to accept it, I felt that with Riza's reaction...if this is not something to be grateful for, then what is?

Third blessing for today: All five of us had a great meal and were happy to be together, joined as parents to our son.

Fourth blessing for today: Grateful that I am with my family to witness this important event in my son's life as a christian. I am happy to have found new friends who will be helping us to guide our son along the way.

Fifth blessing for today: I am happy to be able to share this blessings to everyone reading this blog. And here's a song that I am sure will lift up your spirit while listening to it!

***If these 5 blessings I counted for today plus all the other blessings that is not listed here, is not something to be grateful for today and the next, then what is?***

When upon life's billows

You are tempest tossed

When you are discouraged,

Thinking all is lost

Count your many blessings,

Name them one by one

And it will suprise you 

What the Lord has done

The Genie's Lamp

I just want to keep you smiling at this hour until this day is over and the next day; If you still remember this on the third and the fourth day, since you've watch this short film that means I made you happy ☺. God Bless you all!

When upon life's billows,
You are tempest tossed
When you are discouraged,
Thinking all is lost
Count your many blessings,
Name them one by one
And it will surprise you
What the Lord has done.