Fire of Advent

Fire of Advent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Edward Hays, A Pilgrim’s Almanac, p. 187

"Advent, like its cousin Lent, is a season for prayer and reformation of our hearts. Since it comes at winter time, fire is a fitting sign to help us celebrate Advent…If Christ is to come more fully into our lives this Christmas, if God is to become really incarnate for us, then fire will have to be present in our prayer. Our worship and devotion will have to stoke the kind of fire in our souls that can truly change our hearts. Ours is a great responsibility not to waste this Advent time."

O Come O Come Emmanuel

It's Okay to Wish Me a Merry Christmas

Over 200,000 shoppers are wearing buttons this Christmas season that proclaim a straightforward message to retailers: "It's OK, Wish Me A Merry Christmas(tm)." Individuals and churches around the country are partnering with the Wish Me A Merry Christmas Campaign mobilizing advocates energized for a return to the traditional, convivial greeting, bearing buttons that make a clear statement - "It's OK, Wish Me A Merry Christmas(tm) (www.wmamc.com)". Over 200,000 of these buttons have been distributed nationally.

With over 200,000 buttons on the streets and in stores this year, local store associates are likely to be presented with the opportunity to deviate from the corporate holiday wishing policy of top retailers like the Gap and Best Buy, and stealthily wish their customer "Merry Christmas" instead of the generic "Happy Holidays". But since 96% of Americans celebrate Christmas (Gallup Poll, 2004), it's likely that the store cashiers would prefer to wish their customers "Merry Christmas" as well. In fact 88% of Americans state that "It's okay to wish 'Merry Christmas'." (Gallup Poll).

Source http://www.christiannewswire.com/news/8944712282.html

Tomorrow, I:

Go to the mall to shop and spend money to help our economy

Rise early so that I can read multiple pages on cognitive therapy

Run 3 miles to make up for the gravy, stuffing, mashed taters, chocolates and tiramisu

Take the Labrador since she did the same

Buy Christmas (yes I did say CHRISTmas cards) cards

Eat leftovers

But today, I GIVE THANKS!

Try this for a week and you'll be surprised...

The way to happiness: Keep your heart free from hate, your mind from worry. Live simply, expect little, give much. Fill your life with love. Scatter Sunshine. Forget self, think of others. Do as you would be done by.

(From The Power of Positive Thinking, N.V. Peale)

The Manhattan Declaration - Please add your name

STATEMENT OF THE DIOCESE OF PHOENIX

Re: The Manhattan Declaration

November 20, 2009



The Most Rev. Thomas J. Olmsted, Bishop of Phoenix, has signed the Manhattan Declaration: A Call of Christian Conscience, which was released today. This document crafted by Christian religious leaders affirms the sanctity of human life from the moment of conception, upholds the dignity of marriage as being between one man and one woman, and supports the continuing struggle for religious liberty and rights of conscience. The Manhattan Declaration was released today in a nationwide effort to enlist the support of all Christians for these fundamental values on which the United States was founded.

“As Catholics, we seek to be good citizens of our country and faithful members of the Church. Thus, we respect the human dignity of everyone, including people of different faiths, or no faith at all,” Bishop Olmsted said. “Not only do we gladly embrace our identity as followers of Christ and seek to put our faith into practice in public life, but we also join with others of good will in this privilege and duty. I am especially pleased when we can join with other Christians in promoting and defending vital issues of our day, which have come under increasing attack. The Manhattan Declaration provides an avenue for those who hold moral principles, based on the Bible and traditional Christian teaching, to speak with a united voice for the good of our nation, including its most vulnerable citizens. I invite all Catholics of our Diocese to go to the website and to express your support for this Declaration.”

Those interested in supporting the declaration or getting more information on this national effort can go to the Manhattan Declaration website at: http://www.manhattandeclaration.org/

Blood Money Trailer...a must see

Recently I was listening to some statistics on the Dennis Prager show about the number of service men and women who have died fighting the War on Terror in Iraq. Please don't misunderstand...any soldier who dies in combat is a tragic loss and a hero in my estimation. The number, which the left deemed unacceptable was somewhere under 900 over the past 7 years. Tragic losses, yes. Exhorbitant...hmmm let's think this through...

3500 Americans killed per day...would this be a horror?
1.2 million humans killed intentionally each year? Unthinkable?
How about 50 million casualties and counting since 1973 in a war that HAS NO EXIT STRATEGY YET... fed up?

These are statistically valid quantities of little humans that die from the horror called Abortion. If you are not for the right to live, then what else is there to be "for"?

Mr. Hasan may well have been better figured out by a Retriever

Before I formed you in the womb, I KNEW you

Some extraordinary footage you won't want to miss from our friends at the Human Development Foundation...

Black Genocide in 21st Century America

The claim is that the abortion issue is
about privacy, and women’s rights,
and reproductive freedom.
But that’s just marketing hype.
In reality, it was EUGENICS that drove
the legalization of abortion. And now,
a stunning new movie lays it all out
with incredible documentation.
The film is called Maafa 21 and
it exposes a plan to create “racial
purity” that began 150 years ago and
is still being carried out right now. It’s
about the ties between the Nazis, the
American eugenics movement and
today’s “family planning” cartel.
It’s about elitism, secret agendas,
treachery and corruption at the
highest levels of political and
corporate America.
Maafa 21 will show you things the
media has been hiding and politicians
don’t want you to know. So if you’re
ready to see the real agenda behind
“choice,” fasten your seatbelts ...
IT’S SHOCK AND AWE TIME!