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Saint Joseph, Pillar of Families

I didn't use to pray novenas.  I always thought that praying directly to God was better.  But I read this passage from the Bible: "The continual prayer of a just man availeth much." - James 5:16 I thought of the matter more and now I see that novenas are a humble way of praying.  It is asking those closest to Jesus (and holiest) people who walked the earth, to pray for me. This is not a new way of doing things as Moses intervened for the Jews when God wanted to punish them for making a bull with their own hands and started worshipping them. I now think God is pleased whenever I pray a novena.    Since then, I have seen so many SIGNS AND WONDERS in myself and in my circumstances because I prayed a novena.   I credit Saint Joseph for my happy home life and also for helping us with our finances though the best thing for me is the way novenas help us to lead holy lives.  The saints want no applause but rather, they will always draw us closer to God.   Instead of idolizing cel

Advent is Here!


Contrary to popular knowledge, we are in the midst not of the Christmas season, but the season of Advent.  This 2016's Advent season started on the 27th of November and will end on December 24th.
What is Advent?  It's a time of waiting for Christ's coming (Advent means "coming").  It's a time of tremendous grace.


This morning, my husband Patrick and I read today's bible reading and reflection from Presentation Ministries.  We thought it was a specially good meditation for Advent.



It talked about how we sometimes cannot picture anything changing from the way it is now.  



"But a very little while, and Lebanon shall be changed into an orchard,..." (Isaiah 29:17).



Picture the cedar forests in Lebanon that have been mentioned about 70x in the bible.  During bible times, Lebanon was filled with cedar trees.  Used for ship-building and construction, the wood was very much sought after.  It would've been hard to imagine all the trees slowly being depleted.



But now Lebanon is filled with orange, apple, grape orchards.



Isaiah's prophecy also says that God will make the blind see and the deaf hear and relieve the world of tyrants.  Isn't that wonderful, we know for sure these things will happen!



"We believe in the "good news" of Jesus Christ (see Mk 1:1). God has the power to change anything, for "nothing is impossible with God" (Lk 1:37). On the cross, Jesus made the greatest transformation of all. He turned death into new life. Believe in the God of transformations. Believe the Advent Scriptures."



We then watched a video about how to make the season holy.  This is the first talk from the Pray More Advent Retreat (which we started late).



Six Ways to Keep Your Advent Season Holy, Part I – Advent 2016

The 18 minute session with Elizabeth Ficocelli is packed with encouraging ideas on how to spend the season.

We hope you are having a good start in this wondrous time!  

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