God's Blue Light Special

Light. Something we all take for granted. Especially since the invention of electricity. Light has been a guide for us. Guiding us through the darkness. Guiding us in many ways. Have you ever seen those huge spotlights, 3 or 4 at a time, shining to lead you to a car dealership or another store special? Then there is K-Mart with their Blue light special, leading to a section of the store where there is a special deal going on. Light houses shine a light to show us the way around rocky coast lines, runway lights guide a plane in for a safe landing, and of course there is the soap opera "The Guiding Light". Not quite sure what that is guiding us to?. We use a flashlight to guide us through dark unknown woods. Or a candle or lantern to guide the way. God has given us a light to guide us to Him. His word is a light. Psalm 119:104-106 says "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light upon my path." There is actually a song with those words. I was listening to it the other day. It's a beautiful song. You can listen to it here -
His life saving flashlight is the bible. But just having the bible and reading it is not going to save you from the darkness. It is a guide and it's up to you how you use that guide. But living His words, His commandments, will guide you to Him. Living His words will help guide you through the darknss of sin. He is the one true light. And he wants us to share this light. If a friend was lost in the woods or his electricity went out wouldn't you lend him a flashlight or some candles to help them find their way? We should do the same with His word. Share it with those around us to help guide them to Him. So watch for His blue light special. I promise you it's the best deal you'll ever come across.

Why? This is why....

I recently received an email that I found spiritually profound. I can't think of any other way to describe it. It is truth. I would say "in my opinion..." but my opinion does not decide what is truth and what is not. I forwarded this email on to family and friends and have received some less than enthusiastic responses. I'm ok with that. I believe everything in this email, even if I struggle with some parts of it. I am a sinner. I won't deny that. But I try daily to grow closer to God, and I know living the words of this email will help me to achieve that. Before I give you the link to read it, I would like to try and answer a question. I was asked what prompted me to send (forward) this email. It made this person uncomfortable. I guess maybe that is why I sent it out. I imagine it is going to make a lot of people uncomfortable. We have gotten used to our little world around us conforming to the things we are comfortable with. Laws have been written over the years to take religion (Christ) out of our lives. Television and movies have no standards. Christ has been taken out of our childrens schools. Corruption and evil have spread through the internet like a cancer. With all of this, morality has gone out the window. The morals and values that Christ came to earth to teach us, have changed. We have changed them and tried to justify these changes because of the changes in our world. Let me ask you something - Christ took time with his disciples to go out and pray. Put yourself there. In a quiet spot with Christ. Now ask Him a few questions - How am I doing? Am I living up to what you expect of me? Am I becoming the person you created me to be? Am I living my life the way you taught us to? Now what do you think He would say? Be Honest!! Are you going to stand there and debate with Christ why you think His Word is out-dated for our society? That things are different now and changes are needed? I don't think so.
There is going to be a judgement on the last day. Life is a test and we are all going to be graded, and I don't think God is going to grade on a curve. He's not going to take into account the things we have used to justify living the way we think is ok. It's not ok.
Why did I send it out? Because it needs to be heard. It's not said enough. Other than an hour or so on Sundays, God's word has been taken away from us, and this was a chance I had to spread it around. I guess that's why.
Here is the email. It is a homily written by Fr. Kuchinsky. I hope you read it with an open heart. If it helps even one person grow closer to God then it was worth it. God bless you.

Luscious Desserts

Okay, here is the first of my recipes on this new blog. Why not start it with something sinful. Maybe not, but it's good enough to be!

Chocolate-Chocolate Cake

Prep time: 10 minutes plus cooling Baking time: 1 hour 5 minutes

1 pkg. (8 oz.) Philadelphia Brand Cream Cheese, softened
1 cup Breakstone's or Knudsen Sour Cream
1/2 cup coffee-flavored liqueur or water
2 eggs
1 pkg. (2-layer size) chocolate cake mix
1 pkg. (4 serving size) Jell-O Chocolate Flavor Instant Pudding and Pie Filling
1 cup Baker's Semi-Sweet Real Chocolate Chips

Mix cream cheese, sour cream, liqueur and eggs with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add cake mix and pudding mix; beat until well blended. Fold in chips. (Batter will be stiff)

Pour into greased and floured 12-cup fluted tube pan.

Bake at 325 degrees F for 1 hour to 1 hour and 5 minutes or until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes. Remove from pan. Cool completely on wire reack. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving. Garnish, if desired. (I drizzled with melted chocolate then sprinkled with powdered sugar)

Quick, simple, but OH SO GOOD!

Life's Little Instructions

Growing up my mother had a board mounted on the wall in our stairway for Life's Little Instructions. Well, not all of them, but a guide for us when we thought we wanted something or wanted her to buy us something. This is what it looked like - I still try to follow this and ask myself these questions regularly when buying something. I thought at the time that my mother was trying to teach me the value of a dollar, and I'm sure she was, but after all these years I think she was also trying to teach me another lesson. Materialism. The ideal of putting to much importance on material things. I'm a slow learner mom, but I think I've got it. Most of the things I wanted, insisted I needed, I now realize were only material things that I thought would bring me happiness. I have added another question to that list, a question to help me remember the importance of (or more accurately, the lack of importance of ) "things" - Will this bring me closer to God? (at the very least - Will it keep me from growing closer to God) This question can, and should be used through out our lives. Not just in buying something, but in the choices we make. The choices of the music we listen to, the books we read, the friends we make, the relationships we have, the way we spend our time. These are all choices that are going to do one of two things. Lead us closer to God, or seperate us from Him. There is no in between. "All earthly things are simply means to bring us to God. If they do not serve that purpose they are worse than useless." "It is far better to be with Christ and have nothing than to have all the treasures the world contains and to be without Him." Two quotes from Francis Fernandez that I felt fit right in this post. In a world consumed with having the most and best of everything, these will be hard words to swallow. But just start slow, baby steps, and remember those two quotes. They are words to live by.
May God open our eyes to see what will lead us to Him, and grant us the wisdom and courage to follow.

Heavens par

When I first started my web site my mother, for lack of a better term, called my postings homily’s. I myself didn’t even know what to call them. But a couple months ago it occurred to me they are kinda like parables. Why parables? In the bible Jesus taught using parables so that people would understand His message. He taught using fields and planting, fishing, lamps, servants etc. These are the kinds of things people of that generation understood. Today, I’m sure He would use more modern things such as computers, television and sports. These are the things we understand and can more easily associate with. When I post I use these things because it’s what I understand and feel others can identify with.
That being said, lets play golf. Well not really, but it’s what I identify with for this topic. Many people ask “What does it take to get into heaven?” It would be nice if there were one straight forward answer, but I think the answer is different for each of us. For those of you that golf you understand what par is. For those of you that don’t know – par is the number of strokes you are allowed to get the ball in the hole. There is a par for professionals, men, women, seniors and juniors. It is different for each of them based on their ability. There is also what is called a handicap. This is used for beginners and less talented people to give them an even chance with more experienced golfers. You get to use more strokes depending on your handicap.
When it comes time to get into heaven I think we each have a par and a handicap that only God and ourselves know. For those raised in the faith, taught it and lived it they are going to have a low par. Many people that have not had the opportunity to be taught about God or his son Jesus would have a higher handicap. As you grow in your faith and your understanding of God’s will, your handicap is going to go down. God is going to expect more from you. Yes, God expects things from us and he knows exactly what each and every one of us is capable of. My favorite saying is this – “I know God wouldn’t give me more than I could handle, I just wish He didn’t trust me so much!” For me, I’m afraid my handicap is fairly low, in fact I think I should be playing par in God’s eye’s. I have a strong faith and understanding of what He wants from me, I just lack the courage to live it. That’s not a qualification to give me a handicap.
Many people spend lots of money on fancy clubs, they wear the perfect golf attire, play with the expensive balls but can’t golf worth a hoot. They are known as hackers. Golf takes practice, LOTS of practice (trust me, I know!) and with out getting out there and playing everyday, perfecting your grip and swing, you can’t expect to become a good par golfer. The same with our faith. With out practicing it, learning about it, going to mass, exercising the sacraments, spending time in prayer, spending time with friends of your faith, your not going to grow in it. You’ll become a Catholic hacker.
Mat 25:14 tells the parable of the talents. This was money a landowner gave to his servants each according to his ability, wanting to see how they handled it. God only gives us what he knows each of us can handle according to our ability and judges us accordingly. May you each recognize your talents and shoot for par!

In the beginning....

Well, this isn't actually the beginning. It's more of a new start. Kind of like after the flood. And my life over the last couple of years has been a flood. I have another blog that I have been hot and cold on and a web page that I have not posted on in a couple years. I have felt a tug (more like a strong pull yank ) to start posting on that site again, but what I think I am going to do is incorporate that site into a new blog. We'll see how this goes. Until then you can visit my web site here. I enjoy blogging but I also enjoy sharing my faith. So I hope by doing this I can do both. It's still just an idea I'm tossing around. My web site is my baby and I really like how I have it set up. I hate to leave it. I only wish there were an easier way to post comments to it as opposed to signing the guestbook each time someone wants to leave a comment. If anyone out there is more computer literate than I and has any ideas, I would surely welcome them. Welcome and I hope this is the start of a wonderful and blessed adventure!