Meditation Monday----cancer of the heart

A soul that is humble and sincere......will never stoop to criticism, which in spiritual life is called "cancer of the heart."  It eats up all the love of God, all the energy we have for God's interests.  It is also most infectious.  Let one sister start criticizing and in a short time we shall have two, four, eight, ten, following........

A truly generous soul must never stoop to criticism.  As a rule, people that criticize never do it openly, but go about doing it in a whisper.  That is a sin.  Today when you go before the Blessed Sacrament, ask Jesus to preserve you from the cancer of criticism.  Criticism is not a failure, not a human weakness----it is something that touches the heart.  Should we have given way to it at times, let us resolve to avoid it and beg Christ to preserve us.  To keep free of criticism, we must be humble.
                                                                     
                                                                                                                         -Mother Teresa

7 Quick Take (Vol 6)----Habemus Papam!

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I think we will all remember what we were doing this past Wednesday when we heard, Habemus Papam!  I was preparing dinner for a dear friend who just had her third baby and I looked at the clock and thought, it's 1:30pm, I wonder if the smoke came out white.  So I went to check online at EWTN and sure enough the screen read Habemus Papam!  I ran to turn on my TV and tune in to EWTN.  I know you would all agree it was an exciting moment.  We have been praying for our new Pope for over a month now and when Pope Francis came out I was overcome with joy.  Thank you Lord for blessing us with such a humble Pope.

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I really like our new Pope Francis.  I am excited!   I like the name he picked (one of my favorite saints), he is so humble and he walks the walk.  Here is a picture I came across of him as Archbishop washing the feet of a mother who just had her baby.

(picture source)

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Here is another photo of him riding the bus as Archbishop in Argentina.

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I came across this great picture of Pope Francis with the statue of St. Peter.  

(picture source)

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Everyone in our family is excited about our new Pope Francis.  My dad was born in Spain but as a young man (age 16) most of his family moved to Buenos Aires, Argentina (side note...some of the pictures I have posted on this blog were taken in Argentina).  So you can imagine that when they announce that the Archbishop of Argentina, Jorge Mario Bergoglio was our new Pope Francis, we were overcome with emotion.  We were all very happy not because of our Argentinien background but for the Hispanic community.     

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One thing is for sure, we must continue to pray for Pope Francis.  May the Holy Spirit guide Pope Francis as our new leader and protect him from all harm.  Blessed Mother, please intercede for Pope Francis.

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Here is a wonderful video from Catholic Vote.  Take a look.

¡Hasta Luego! 

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

Meditation Monday---How Jesus Felt

"One day a sister did something terrible.  I never said a word to her, but I waited......thinking she will come and say sorry.  But she did not come, so I went after her----but not response.  I found another reason to go to her.  Still no response.  I did not know how she could remain in that sinful state.  I felt sorry for her, so I understood how Jesus felt when we refuse Him.  But He is always waiting.  God's mercy is greater than our sins.  God has created me for greater things because He loves me."
                                                                                                       -Mother Teresa

7 Quick Takes Friday (Vol 5)

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I did not get the chance to write my 7 Quick takes last week because my youngest daughter (13 months) old was not feeling well and family comes first.  She had a low fever and diarrhea all because of two bottom molars that came out.  Yes, you read correctly.  She had two molars come out at the same time!   Her teeth have been coming out since she was 6 months old and there is no slowing down.  My poor little one had a hard time but she is much better now.

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Have you heard about adoptacardinal.org? You can adopt a Cardinal which you will support him through prayer and intercession during the coming weeks before and during of the conclave.  All you need to do is provide your name and email address.  Once you provide your information they will give you the picture and name of the Cardinal.  I was given, Cardinal Francisco Javier Errazuriz Ossa, Archbishop emeritus of Santiago de Chile.

Cardinal Francisco Javier Errazuriz Ossa

picture provided by adoptacardinal.org

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Side note.  Did you know that 70% of Chile's population are Catholics?  Si Señor.  In addition, the Government observes the following Catholic Holy Days as national holidays: Good Friday, Christmas, Feast of the Virgin of Carmen, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, the Feast of the Assumption, and All Saints Day.  Chile is my kind of country.  

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Last month I joined the Catholic Women's Book Club and this month we will be discussing the autobiography of Saint Therese if Lisieux, The Story of a Soul.  So far, it is a great book.  We can learn so much from the Saints.  The Saints are our brothers and sisters in Christ who have been there and done that and help you see how to get through it by their example.  We are truly blessed to have these recording of the Saints.

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How is your Lent going?  I am doing ok.  I gave up social media like facebook for Lent and I am doing well with that and working on my prayer life.  I had some eye opening moment about myself during prayer.  I am thankful for the Holy Spirit making it clear to me on what I need to work on.  Sometimes it is a slap in the face but we all can use that once in a while.  Thankful for Lent.    

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My husband and I started to go visit the Blessed Sacrament once a week a few months ago.  We take turns.  He goes one week, I go the next and so on and I have to say it is truly a blessing.  We both enjoy going and sometimes when it is his turn, I wish it was my turn.  But one week I was sick so he went for me and it was comforting to know that my husband was with Jesus praying for us and our family.  If you are thinking about visiting the Blessed Sacrament, go, Jesus is calling you.

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I would like to announce that we are proud owners of the DVD, For the Greater Glory.  I know it has been on sale for a while know but we finally bought it.  If you have not seen this movie, you are missing out.  My husband really likes it.  He bought the DVD for us!  !Que Viva Christo Rey!  

¡Hasta Luego! 

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

Meditation Monday

"Go before the Blessed Sacrament---He is there.  When we look at the Cross we know how much He loved us; when we look at the tabernacle, we know how much He loves us now. "Loved," past tense; "Loves," present tense.  Not only past tense, He loves us now.  He loves me tenderly."     -Mother Teresa
                                                                                                                   

Meditation Monday

"Jesus made it so easy for us to love one another.  If we only remember, whatever we do, we do it to him.

The fruit of Prayer is Faith
The fruit of Faith is Love
The fruit of Love is Service

Everything begins with prayer.  Bring the rosary into your family.  Where there is prayer, there is unity, there is peace, there is love.  I have seen that with our poor.  The joy of loving is the joy of sharing.
 
I would be very happy if you pray to Our Lady to share the joy of loving in your own home.  For where there is love, there will always be prayer."
                                               
                                                                                  -Mother Teresa

7 Quick Takes Friday--catch up edition

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This 7 Quick Take Friday is definitely a let's catch up because my last 7 quick takes was back in November.  Gosh where did the time go.  Well since then both of my daughters had a birthday.  The oldest is three and our little one is now one.  We were sick with the stomach flue the week of Christmas and New Years.  We all caught the cold flu (Jan/Feb) which lasted about two weeks.  But we are all healthy now.

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Speaking of health.  A few months ago I mentioned that I was going to make an appointment to see a new doctor regarding my headaches.  Well I did in December and I am glad I did.  She is a wonderful doctor.  I have to say that for the first time I feel like a doctor is listening to my concerns.  Why you might wonder.  Well all my life doctors have given me medication to deal with the pain instead of getting down to root of the problem.  My new doctor, Dr. G, did not give me any pain medicine, instead she is trying to figure out why I am getting these headaches.  She asked me so many questions that our session was almost two hours!  She asked me to go on a gluten and dairy free diet which I have and I have to say that the amount of headaches is less.  Significantly less!  Praise God! Not only do I have less headaches but I have more energy too!  

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I have tried new gluten free recipes which I will start posting soon.  The difference is not bad at all.  When Dr. G told me to change our diet I was a little worried but there are so many great ingredients you can use for a gluten free diet.  Plus many food companies are jumping on the gluten free diet and are providing more gluten free alternatives.

Gluten free chocolate cake. Delicious!

Gluten free pasta with spinach. 

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I hope you are all having a great Lent.  My daughters are too young to understand Lent but my oldest is old enough to understand the count down for Easter.  I printed out a free Lent calendar by Kimberlee at ponderinmyheart.com.  Thank you Kimberlee!  My daughter enjoys making an "x" on each day that goes by.

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A book I am reading for Lent is A Mother's Rule of Life by Holly Pierlot.  I have to say that if you are a mother who is struggling (like myself) or needs some tweaking this book is for you.  This book is a great guide to the vocation of wife and motherhood.  I have been trying to set a routine/schedule for our family and this book has help me where tweaking was needed.  I am so thankful for veteran moms who share their own personal experiences for new moms like myself.

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I finally started to work out!  I have been doing Pilates.  I made it a priority since Lent (so its only been a little bit over a week :-/ ) and I hope to continue after Lent.  Why?  Well, if I want to be a better wife and mother, I need to take care of myself which includes my body.  I release stress which in return will help me with my vocation.

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I want to end by sharing with you all the 3-Minute Retreat by Loyola Press.  It is a great way to start the day with a three minute reflection, especially during Lent.  They also have it in español for my Spanish speaking friend.  

¡Hasta Luego! 

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!