September 2022

This month we celebrate our angels and archangels.  Sing praise!

In 1990-91, I taught a fourth-grade CCE class whose members grew quite close because of their concerns about the Gulf War Crisis.  Naturally, saying goodbye our last class day was somewhat emotional— and surprising— when Bennye, a sweet girl who had borrowed my Bible and my First Communion book for weeks during the year, presented me with a small paperback.

Bennye had dropped the book on the way to class that rainy day, so the cover was half torn, its pages splattered with mud.  “I want to give you something to remember me by!” she smiled.  “My uncle, who’s in his twenties, liked the book so much that I asked if I could give it to you.”

I was so moved that I told her I’d treasure it always.  Once home, I placed the book in the top drawer of my wicker chest of drawers so that I could see it every day.  But, as I went from one obligation to the next, the book settled to the bottom and faded from memory.

Five years passed.  I found myself in such dire straits that I didn’t know what to do.  I reached for my rosary in the top drawer and there, atop the clothes that had kept items hidden for too long, was Bennye’s book.  I started to read and, the more I read, the more it called out to me.  The 119-page book became the “treasure” in the “secret place” that Isaiah had alluded to (45:3).

Bennye’s book waited a long time to be found, but its powerful constancy remains even now.  Its sweet story of God’s two angels on their daily quest among us, as well as its simple message— prayer is asking, praising, continually walking in faith— transformed my thinking and my life.

Every day at dawn God sends two angels to earth.  One angel holds a basket for petitions; the other, for thanksgiving and praise.  Then, at dusk, the two angels return home to heaven.

Which basket do you think is fuller at day’s end?

In our usual way, we ask and ask without making the time to thank and praise.  Yet it’s this small change in one’s mindset that makes all the difference.  “When we praise the Lord, then increase, abundance, and provisions come and God shall bless us” (There’s Dynamite in Praise, Gossett, 1974, p. 43).

“Amazingly, I discovered greater blessings, more joy, and more marvelous things happening as I praised the Lord…” (p. 16; “Prayer and praise” & “Two angels,” Lanoux, July 2008).

September mailing (English & Spanish)

   

   

Prayerful thoughts

Following the example of the psalmist, offer your own song of praise, giving thanks for something remarkable in the created order that amazes, pleases, or surprises you; committing to God’s care at least one brokenhearted or downtrodden individual or group; expressing gratitude for a plant or animal that enriches your life; and acknowledging one particular way in which you have experienced God’s love.  Praise the Lord! (Pittsburg Theological Seminary).

If we spent time each day thanking God, we would hardly be able to get angry at him.  Instead we tend to take for granted the gifts we have.  For these, we should thank God unceasingly (Fr. T. G. Morrow, STD).

Prayers of adoration, praise, and thanksgiving will echo throughout heaven for all eternity.  If you really wish to become holy, seek to practice this kind of prayer….  The result will be God’s greater readiness to hear and greater generosity in answering your prayers of petition (Fr. Lawrence G. Lovasik, SVD).

Rejoice always.  Pray without ceasing.  In all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).

“So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness” (Colossians 2:6-7).

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Blessings 2024…  April 2024…  February 2024…  January 2024…  March 2024…

Blessings 2023…  April 2023…  August 2023…  Christ’s glory…  Christmas 2023…  December 2023…  February 2023…  Flame within…  God’s gift…  January 2023…  July 2023…  June 2023…  Love’s heart…  March 2023…  May 2023…  November 2023…  October 2023…  September 2023…

Blessings 2022…  August 2022…  December 2022…  Journey’s light…  July 2022…  June 2022…  Kiss of God…  May 2022…  Mourning joy…  November 2022…  October 2022…  October saints…  Presence…  Sight…  Sitka’s St. Michael…  St. Michael prayers