God Bless Our New Pope!

“In the Gospel we heard that “Joseph did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took Mary as his wife” (Mt 1:24). These words already point to the mission which God entrusts to Joseph: he is to be the custos, the protector... How does Joseph exercise his role as protector? Discreetly, humbly and silently, but with an unfailing presence and utter fidelity, even when he finds it hard to understand... How does Joseph respond to his calling to be the protector of Mary, Jesus and the Church? By being constantly attentive to God, open to the signs of God’s presence and receptive to God’s plans, and not simply to his own... God does not want a house built by men, but faithfulness to his word, to his plan. It is God himself who builds the house, but from living stones sealed by his Spirit. Joseph is a “protector” because he is able to hear God’s voice and be guided by his will; and for this reason he is all the more sensitive to the persons entrusted to his safekeeping. He can look at things realistically, he is in touch with his surroundings, he can make truly wise decisions. In him, dear friends, we learn how to respond to God’s call, readily and willingly, but we also see the core of the Christian vocation, which is Christ! Let us protect Christ in our lives, so that we can protect others, so that we can protect creation!” ~Pope Francis

Full text of Inaugural Mass homily: http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-homily-for-inaugural-mass-of-petrine-ministry

Pope Francis - A Quote!

“When one does not profess Jesus Christ, one professes the worldliness of the devil…When we walk without the Cross, when we build without the Cross, and when we profess Christ without the Cross, we are not disciples of the Lord… I would like that all of us, after these days of grace, might have the courage – the courage – to walk in the presence of the Lord, with the Cross of the Lord: to build the Church on the Blood of the Lord, which is shed on the Cross, and to profess the one glory, Christ Crucified. In this way, the Church will go forward. My hope for all of us is that the Holy Spirit, that the prayer of Our Lady, our Mother, might grant us this grace: to walk, to build, to profess Jesus Christ Crucified. So be it.” ~Pope Francis

Being Kind to the Welfare Recipients . . .

I always thought it might cause problems to just give money to people in need without some monitoring of whether they used it for the purpose intended - to help them through a rough patch in life. Since the onset of cash cards for welfare recipient use, guess what?? Are you surprised that it has fostered a lot of abuse? Interesting video clip revealing just how much of the money given to 'needy' people is not being used for real needs.

Granted, government help is useful to people who are Earnest in  trying to get back on their feet but just handing dollars to people without any feedback or monitoring of how it is spent, is asking for disaster. After listening to this video, I have to wonder 1.) Did these people really require welfare assistance and 2.) If it was spent on vacations and gambling, did they have to apply for more to actually get through the mundane expenses of life like food, rent, etc.?

This addresses only California. Think of what goes on in other states like
New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Michigan. This is insanity!
http://videos2view.net/welfare-vacations.htm_

 

 

Sewing Machine Surprises!

  When I purchased my sewing machine, I made sure the machine could do everything I might want to do and a bit more. Three or more weeks later, I discover yet another facet to my sewing machine's deep nature . . . it makes lace!

When I was browsing for embroidery patterns to download, I kept running across some that were prefaced with FSL and wondered what that meant but put it to the back of my mind as I was on a quest for a particular design and all the ones shown with FSL didn't appeal to me. The reason they didn't appeal to me is that they were too delicate and didn't seem to be workable for my needs and, besides, I still didn't know what FSL meant.

I finally discovered what FSL meant and you can see the results in the picture - Free Standing Lace. You can actually make lace on the sewing machine. I'm practicing on something doable like bookmarks. The way it works, is that you purchase something that pretty much looks and feels like heavy plastic wrap. Instead of putting fabric in your embroidery hoop for the sewing machine, you use this stuff. Then, with ordinary embroidery thread, you make the FSL pattern of your choice. When it is completed, cut away the excess 'plastic wrap' and then rinse off the newly-made bookmark with warm water to dissolve the product between the smaller holes and designs of the project.

It wasn't an easy start as it took some time finding the sewing machine needle that would cope with this without breaking the thread. I tried eight bookmarks and ended up with the ones shown - not too bad an average! I'm still amazed to hold a piece of lacework in my hands and know it is nothing but thread!

Catholics that don't represent real Catholics . . .

Although I'm looking forward to Pope Francis officially becoming Pope next week, there is one or two major flies in the proverbial ointment. The president is sending representatives from the United States to attend this historical event. He is not, however, in any sense of the word sending real Catholics representing the Catholics in the United States. It was with some horror that I heard that Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden were part of the group attending.

Now, I know that we must not judge the hearts of other people but their outward words and actions more than bring into play what is actually in their hearts and it is not Catholic in the sense of the Commandments or rules of the Church. In fact, both of them have been quite open on their views on abortion and contraception which is totally against Catholic teaching.

http://www.lifenews.com/2013/03/15/pro-abortion-catholic-nancy-pelosi-to-attend-pope-francis-inaugural/

I will still be watching the televised event from Rome but can only imagine the saints and relics housed in and around Rome wondering what the world has come  to since they suffered and died to protect what these two tear apart so easily.

The 'eyes' have it!

While I was going about my chores, this morning, I noticed I was being supervised by our cat, Marcella.

She has developed a new trick. Whenever she can't find us or wants to play, you can hear hear meowing as she wanders around the house. When she finds one of us, she always has a toy in her mouth which she drops at our feet and then look expectant. Today, I realized how much she relies on us. I had gone to pick up my son from college. When we opened the backdoor, the toy was resting on the doormat. Marcella had obviously either gotten bored or lonely while we were gone.

An Afternoon of Work?

 My husband said that unless I work on my sewing machine every day and not with just straight sewing, I'm not getting my money's worth. Oh, darn, I had to spend the time trying out new embroidery patterns I downloaded this morning. The suffering I'm going through!

I enjoyed the 'practice' as they were small patterns and only took about 30 minutes each depending on how many thread changes I had to make for the colors. I've found the main thing is to be very, VERY careful when threading the machine and always start with a new needle.

I do have plans for the completed ones with visions of new and improved tote bags and quilts dancing through my head. I also learned to multitask today . . . While the machine was doing it's work, I did necessary hand sewing on projects that were neglected with the invasion of the new machine.