Fast. Pray. Give.

Fast

"Don't get upset with your imperfections...It leads nowhere--to get angry because you are angry, upset at being upset, depressed at being depressed, disappointed because you are disappointed...Simply surrender to the power of God's love, which is always greater than our weakness" (St. Francis de Sales)

Pray

Before you do anything else today, pray this prayer: "Lord, help me to imitate Mary's deep humility, lively faith, blind obedience, unceasing prayer, constant self-denial, supassing purity, arden love heroic patience, angelic kindness, and heavenly wisdom. Amen" (St. Louis de Montfort)

Give

As you do laundry today, bless the person for whom you are folding. With every crease, offer a prayer.

Fast. Pray. Give.

Fast

Rise a little earlier and bring your husband breakfast in bed. (If it's too late today, plan for tomorrow)

Pray

Move your wedding band to your right hand. Every time you notice the difference today, pray for your marriage. Listen to God's answers.

Give

Plan a date night for you and your husband. Make it special and fun!

**Of all the days' prompts, this one is my favorite. I hope your day is blessed and beautiful:) Come back and let me know how it went.

Fast. Pray. Give.

{To follow tomorrow's prompt, you might want to plan to get out of bed a little earlier than usual. The prompt will be posted at 5 AM Eastern Daylight Time to give (most of) you time to do it first thing in the morning. See you bright and early.}

Fast 

Clean out the refrigerator today instead of eating lunch. Pull everything out and wipe it all down. Thank God for the food He provides for your family. As you put things back, listen to God's will for you as a wife.

Pray

Give thanks for food, clothes, and shelter. Listen to God's plan for stewardship.

Give

"The poverty of being unwanted, unloved, and uncared for is the greatest poverty. We must start in our own homes to remedy this kind of poverty" (Blessed Teresa of Calcutta)

Assure the people in your home that they are wanted, loved, and cared for. Don't use words. 

Lord, Hear Our Prayer

The internet is a formidable force for bringing the comfort and consolation and hope of the Lord to all of us. It can be an incredibily powerful medium for community. There is an unfathomable resource for prayer here. We have on the 'net the privilege of praying for people and of being witness to the miracles brought forth when fervent, faith-filled people pray for one another.

Let's be that community of hope and faith for one another.

How about this idea? What if I pop in here every weekend, share Sunday's gospel and talk a wee bit about how we can live it and pray it in our homes? And then you tell me how we can pray for you that week? Deal?

{And please, do return and let us know how prayer is bearing fruit.} 

Gospel

Luke 15:1-3, 11-32

Tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to Jesus,
but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying,
“This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
So to them Jesus addressed this parable:
“A man had two sons, and the younger son said to his father,
‘Father give me the share of your estate that should come to me.’
So the father divided the property between them.
After a few days, the younger son collected all his belongings
and set off to a distant country
where he squandered his inheritance on a life of dissipation.
When he had freely spent everything,
a severe famine struck that country,
and he found himself in dire need.
So he hired himself out to one of the local citizens
who sent him to his farm to tend the swine.
And he longed to eat his fill of the pods on which the swine fed,
but nobody gave him any.
Coming to his senses he thought,
‘How many of my father’s hired workers
have more than enough food to eat,
but here am I, dying from hunger.
I shall get up and go to my father and I shall say to him,
“Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.
I no longer deserve to be called your son;
treat me as you would treat one of your hired workers.”’
So he got up and went back to his father.
While he was still a long way off,
his father caught sight of him, and was filled with compassion.
He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him.
His son said to him,
‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you;
I no longer deserve to be called your son.’
But his father ordered his servants,
‘Quickly bring the finest robe and put it on him;
put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.
Take the fattened calf and slaughter it.
Then let us celebrate with a feast,
because this son of mine was dead, and has come to life again;
he was lost, and has been found.’
Then the celebration began.
Now the older son had been out in the field
and, on his way back, as he neared the house,
he heard the sound of music and dancing.
He called one of the servants and asked what this might mean.
The servant said to him,
‘Your brother has returned
and your father has slaughtered the fattened calf
because he has him back safe and sound.’
He became angry,
and when he refused to enter the house,
his father came out and pleaded with him.
He said to his father in reply,
‘Look, all these years I served you
and not once did I disobey your orders;
yet you never gave me even a young goat to feast on with my friends.
But when your son returns
who swallowed up your property with prostitutes,
for him you slaughter the fattened calf.’
He said to him,
‘My son, you are here with me always;
everything I have is yours.
But now we must celebrate and rejoice,
because your brother was dead and has come to life again;
he was lost and has been found.’”

Think:
Devout people are, as a class, the least kind of all classes. This is a scandalous thing to say; but the scandal of the fact is so much greater than the scandal of acknowledging it, that I will brave this last, for the sake of a greater good. Religious people are an unkindly lot. Poor human nature cannot do everything; and kindness is too often left uncultivated, because men do not sufficiently understand its value. Men may be charitable, yet not kind; merciful, yet not kind; self-denying, yet not kind. If they would add a little
common kindness to their uncommon graces, they would convert ten where they now only abate the prejudices of one. There is a sort of spiritual selfishness in
devotion, which is rather to be regretted than condemned. I should not like to think it is unavoidable. Certainly its interfering with kindness is not unavoidable. It is only a little difficult, and calls for watchfulness. Kindness, as a grace, is certainly not sufficiently cultivated, while the self-gravitating, self-contemplating, self-inspecting parts of the spiritual life are cultivated too exclusively.
 
Rightly considered, kindness is the grand cause of God in the world. Where it is natural, it must forthwith be supernaturalized. Where it is not natural, it must be
supernaturally planted. What is our life? It is a mission to go into every corner it can reach, and reconquer for God's beatitude His unhappy world back to Him. It is a devotion of ourselves to the bliss of the Divine Life by the beautiful apostolate of kindness. Fr. Faber

Pray:
Lord, I am learning that not only does my unkindness hurt the people around me, it robs me of your precious grace. Please open me to your grace and cultivate kindness in my soul. I want to be an apostle for the good, the kind, and the true! Please make me a pure vessel of your kindness.

Act:
Don't be selfish. Don't do it. Don't be the devout soul who is so focused on her own right thinking and right practice that she overlooks the beautiful apostolate of kindness. Instead, be the kind soul, the woman who goes the extra mile to lighten someone else's load, to offer an encouraging word, and to bear inevitable burdens of life with genuine grace and joy. Renew the prayer above every day and make kindness the habit of your heart.

Tell Your Story with Silver and Charms {{& a Giveaway}}

Happy weekend! Please allow me to introduce you to Tricia Jennings, who helps women create wearable, personal art with Origami Owl.

Origami Owl is a unique way to tell a story with a lovely locket. Tricia has me thinking Easter basket treasures for teen and tweens. These lockets can be personalized to touch a woman's (or a girl's) heart and capture for her any special occasion or sentiment.

Pictured above is a wonderful example of how a locket can be a window into a woman's world, celebrating the life of a new baby girl. As her family grows and interests expand, her locket's design possibilities can also expand by switching out charms for a new set of charms that can then be moved back and forth as desired, all at an affordable price point.

The mission of Origami Owl  is very clear:

To be a force for good;

To love, inspire, and motivate

women of all ages to raech the dreams and empowere them to make

a difference in the lives of others

When you wander into Tricia's online shop, you will be guided through the artistic process to create a unqigue, meaningful locket that will tell your story exactly how you choose to express it.  If you get stuck or you need alittle extra inspiration, Tricia is happy to help you choose the lockets, charms, tags, and dangles that best reflect your heart. .

You will have the opportunity to shop,  host an Online, Catalog, or In-real-life party,  or join the Itty Bitty Pretties Team as a Designer-in-Waiting. 

The Origami Owl party model of creating personalized high quality costume jewelry - on the spot - is the first of its kind among social selling businesses. The home party becomes more than just a social gathering amidst a backdrop of a sale going on - the jewelry creation becomes the focal point of the party as each person begins to create her own locket design.

*****************************************
Specifically, Tricia can offer readers here a fun, social, jewelry buying experience with many affordable lockets and hundreds of charms from which to choose. 

Personalized service from Tricia is available if you would like lockets assembled, packaged as gifts, and shipped directly to the gift recipient.

And here's a wonderful feature dear to my heart: Expandable Mother/Grandmother Charm necklaces that  have space for the extra children that are welcomed into a family that is open to life (no need to 
go buy a new Mommy/Grandmother Necklace when new baby comes along, just add an affordable  $5 charm to existing locket)

Tricia also offers a discount on baby charms for 5th child and beyond and discount on Angel Babies to remember our babies  already in Heaven.

From now until the end of June, 10% of the proceeds of sales will go to the St. Bryce Foundation, a missionary outreach foundation by Colleen Mitchell and her husband. Great things have been happening through this ministry and we're all happy to have another opportunity to support them.

{{Giveaway}}

Click through to Tricia's site and take a look around. Come back here and report on our ideas and inspirations. You will be enteredt to win a $ 75 credit towards purchase of Origami Owl through Tricia.

The winner of the giveaway is Kristen! Kristen said...

Kristen said...

The first person I thought of when I was looking over the site, was a wife of a teacher at our children's school that was just diagnosed with Breast Cancer. We send our children to a small Catholic School and everyone is like family. It would be awesome for the kids to design a special necklace for her. I saw the awareness charm for breast cancer and hope and faith and thought of her. What a great idea for meaningful and personalized gifts!