I want to wish everyone wherever they may be a most peaceful, blessed and joyful Christmas!

May the peace of Christ, which the world can not give, but which is bestowed by the Prince of Peace be yours this day and for the whole of your days.

Christus Resurrexit!

Christ is Risen!

Wishing everyone everywhere a most blessed and joy filled Easter!

May Our Risen Lord bless you and keep you always. Amen.

Hard to believe that it is that time once again of the year, that of the Christmas season! I want to take a moment to wish everyone a most blessed and peace filled Christmas. In these days which seem to only be more hectic, chaotic and so fast paced with little or no time for quiet, self reflection and personal solitude, my hope is that you and your family and friends can take an opportunity to put everything else aside for an occasion to simply ponder as to what this season of Christmas is truly about…that of the birth of Christ, the One who brings true peace, comfort and a joy unending. It is so easy especially nowadays to miss Him and to forgo any sense of what His birth truly means for all of us.

One of the songs that was sung at last weeks Advent Mass is one that has been stuck in my head and which I have been humming and singing around the house since then. I think it very much exemplifies what the holiday season is about and what it really encompasses, that of waiting for the King of Peace to come to us and to restore us all through His loving care and redemptive sacrifice.

O Come Divine Messiah

O come, Divine Messiah,
The World in silence waits the day,
When hope shall sing its triumph,
And sadness flee away!

Dear Savior haste!
Come, come to earth!
Dispel the night and show Thy face,
And bid us hail the dawn of grace.
O come, Divine Messiah,
The world in silence baits the day,
When hope shall sing of triumph
And sadness flee away.

Shalt come in peace and meekness
And lowly will Thy cradle be,
And veiled in human weakness,
Thy Majesty we’ll see!

Dear Savior haste!
Come, come to earth!
Dispel the night and show Thy face,
And bid us hail the dawn of grace.
O come, Divine Messiah,
The world in silence baits the day,
When hope shall sing of triumph
And sadness flee away.

May God bless and keep you! May the peace of Christ be with you throughout this season!

There is a holiday for everything it seems these days! Well, I just learned this morning that there is in fact a National Dice Day! How fun is that! For a gamer like me, Dice have been an integral part of my life. So to all my fellow Gamers wherever you may be, I want to wish you a very Happy National Dice Day!!!

May all your rolls be Yahtzee, or a D20!

Today is the 4th of July, which for those of us who are Americans, we celebrate the founding of our country. It is a day of bbq’s, parties and filled with festive parades and fireworks, yet how many truly reflect upon the sacrifice of those fifty-six men who signed the Declaration of Independence?

Here is some information that I came across about the fates of those men:

1. Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died.

2. Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned.

3. Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army; another had two sons captured.

4. Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War.

They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.

What kind of men were they?

1. Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists.

2. Eleven were merchants,

3. Nine were farmers and large plantation owners; men of means, well educated.

Still they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured.

Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy and eventually sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and died in rags.

Thomas McKeam was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward.

Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.

Thomas Nelson, Jr., lost his home to the British General Cornwallis for his headquarters. Nelson died bankrupt.

Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months.

John Hart was driven from his wife’s bedside as she was dying. Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished.

Our liberties which we celebrate and cherish are indeed precious and so fragile as can be seen by many of the recent events taking place. Freedom is not free, we must be ever vigilant and work towards protecting our liberties. May God bless our independent nation, who is the source of all freedom!

I wanted to wish all of the fathers a very happy, relaxing and blessed Father’s Day.

Just want to wish all veterans and all those who are serving within all branches of our armed forces a blessed, peace filled and hallowed Memorial Day. So many shed their blood and gave their lives so that we and many others could have so precious a gift as liberty. Your sacrifices are not in vain, nor are they forgotten.

Please show your support and give to the National Veterans Foundation, a non profit organization which is dedicated to helping our veterans with whatever their needs may be.

National Veterans Foundation

I knew there would be some specific days which would have a bit of a peculiar feel about it, in terms of the reality that my mom passed away last September. Today being Mother’s Day is one of them. Having attended Mass this morning, I at least spiritually was able to ask Christ and our Lady (who is very much my Mother in a deeply personal and spiritual sense) to pass along my feelings of love for her, as well as asking for a sense of comfort for myself.

I do have my birth mom who I will call in a moment to wish her a joyful Mother’s Day. I will see her next week and we will celebrate over a homestyle dinner.

So in one sense, I have three mothers. My birth mother, my adoptive mother and our Lady. Pretty lucky indeed and blessed for sure!

Mothers really do not get enough credit for all that they go through. If your able to, I would ask that you take a moment to thank you mother and to tell her how much you appreciate all that she has done on your behalf, as well as to simply tell her how much you love her.

That is all a mother wants on Mother’s Day.

Cat Mom Hugs Baby Kitten

Today is my patron saints day, so I especially want to wish everyone a most blessed and prayerful St. Patrick’s Day!

One of his most famous conversions he was responsible for which was historically recored deals with two daughters of the then Irish monarch, Ethne and Fedelm. They went out to the local fountain to bath, when they came upon St. Patrick and some of his companions who were praying there. The meeting between the two daughters and St. Patrick is recored as follows:

Astonished at the vision that presented itself to them, the royal maidens cried out: “Who are ye, and whence do ye come? Are ye phantoms, or fairies, or friendly mortals?” St. Patrick said to them: “It were better you would adore and worship the one true God, whom we announce to you, than that you would satisfy your curiosity by such vain questions.” And then Ethne broke forth into the questions:

“Who is God?”
“And where is God?”
“Where is His dwelling?”
“Has He sons and daughters?”
“Is He rich in silver and gold?”
“Is He everlasting? is He beautiful?”
“Are His daughters dear and lovely to the men of this world?”
“Is He on the heavens or on earth?”
“In the sea, in rivers, in mountains, in valleys?”
“Make Him known to us. How is He to be seen?”
“How is He to be loved? How is He to be found?”
“Is it in youth or is it in old age that He may be found?”

But St. Patrick, filled with the Holy Ghost, made answer:

“God, whom we announce to you, is the Ruler of all things.”
“The God of heaven and earth, of the sea and the rivers.”
“The God of the sun, and the moon, and all the stars.”
“The God of the high mountains and of the low-lying valleys.”
“The God who is above heaven, and in heaven, and under heaven.”
“His dwelling is in heaven and earth, and the sea, and all therein.”
“He gives breath to all.”
“He gives life to all.”
“He is over all.”
“He upholds all.”
“He gives light to the sun.”
“He imparts splendour to the moon.”
“He has made wells in the dry land, and islands in the ocean.”
“He has appointed the stars to serve the greater lights.”
“His Son is co-eternal and co-equal with Himself.”
“The Son is not younger than the Father.”
“And the Father is not older than the Son.”
“And the Holy Ghost proceeds from them.”
“The Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost are undivided.”
“But I desire by Faith to unite you to the Heavenly King, as you are daughters of an earthly king.”

The maidens, as if with one voice and one heart, said: “Teach us most carefully how we may believe in the Heavenly King; show us how we may behold Him face to face, and we will do whatsoever you shall say to us.”