Deuteronomy 8:14b-16a, 1 Corinthians 10:16-17 and John 6:51-58

At every Catholic mass, we normally have a reading from the Old Testament, a Psalm, a reading from the New Testament, and a Gospel reading.  The readings normally follow a particular theme and show us that there was always a Plan, that there are no coincidences.

This weekend was the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ.   The readings worked together almost magically for me.  So, I'm sharing them all with you.  Enjoy!

Deuteronomy 8:14b-16a

Moses said to the people:
"Remember how for forty years now the LORD, your God,
has directed all your journeying in the desert,
so as to test you by affliction
and find out whether or not it was your intention
to keep his commandments.
He therefore let you be afflicted with hunger,
and then fed you with manna,
a food unknown to you and your fathers,
in order to show you that not by bread alone does one live,
but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of the LORD.

"Do not forget the LORD, your God,
who brought you out of the land of Egypt,
that place of slavery;
who guided you through the vast and terrible desert
with its saraph serpents and scorpions,
its parched and waterless ground;
who brought forth water for you from the flinty rock
and fed you in the desert with manna,
a food unknown to your fathers."

1 Corinthians 10:51-58

Brothers and sisters:
The cup of blessing that we bless,
is it not a participation in the blood of Christ?
The bread that we break,
is it not a participation in the body of Christ?
Because the loaf of bread is one,
we, though many, are one body,
for we all partake of the one loaf.

John 6:51-58

Jesus said to the Jewish crowds:
"I am the living bread that came down from heaven;
whoever eats this bread will live forever;
and the bread that I will give
is my flesh for the life of the world."

The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying,
"How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"
Jesus said to them,
"Amen, amen, I say to you,
unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood,
you do not have life within you.
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood
has eternal life,
and I will raise him on the last day.
For my flesh is true food,
and my blood is true drink.
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood
remains in me and I in him.
Just as the living Father sent me
and I have life because of the Father,
so also the one who feeds on me
will have life because of me.
This is the bread that came down from heaven.
Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died,
whoever eats this bread will live forever."

These readings were pulled from US Conference of Catholic Bishops (NAB).

NEWSLETTER

I know, it's been awhile.  So, I'm going to catch you up on lots of things.  Call it a "newsletter", like the ones you get in Christmas cards.


Relay for Life is over for the year.  As usual, the Luminaria Ceremony was beautiful, so peaceful.  I walked the silent lap with a dear friend whose dad has recently been diagnosed with cancer.  The rain chased us in around 1am and there we stayed until the sun came up.  Ultimately we raised more than $30,000!  Way to go, Martin County!






I got a card in the mail last week from Thy Word Network.  They just wanted me to know that my name was pulled to be one of the people they pray for by name.  How amazing is that?!  I was still stressing about my latest phone call with Jeff (see below) and a little anxious about my two week trip to be evaluated on my knowledge of ERP.  So, the prayers were welcome...and truly appreciated.  It totally made me smile.  And the homemade card is beautiful!

Jeff has made a huge decision for his life.  It's personal to him.  So I don't feel all that comfortable sharing the details on the world wide web.  But suffice it to say, I'm very proud of him.  I don't think he realizes how much I believe in him.  His first call to me was very positive.  His second call to me was very negative.  I haven't talked to him in over a week.  But I've written to him and hope to hear from him again soon.  Prayers for Jeff!

It was SummerFest weekend in Loogootee this past weekend.  I went with a friend Thursday night.  I had plans with the 89ers Friday night and after singing at mass and then with the MarCo's Saturday night, I needed to pack and rest for my trip.  So, Thursday was the best day for me to attend.  It happened to be the night of the auction.  ...I walked away with a red love seat.  I love it and it looks GREAT in my living room.  Friday, I stopped by Englert's and ordered a rug.  When I get home from travel next week, I'm ordering a recliner.  My apartment is definitely coming together.

Like I said, Friday night I went to dinner with the 89ers.  This time, we went to Bobe's and then Scoops in Washington.  GREAT time!  We had a couple of newbies.  Peggy came down from Indy and Tammy came down from near Bloomington.  It was the first time they had both joined us and we had a lot of fun getting to know them again.  I hope they join us more often.

I think I had a migraine early (and I mean EARLY) Friday morning.  I woke up at 3am with a horrible headache.  Within 30 minutes, I was vomiting.  It wasn't until after 4am that I finally fell asleep again.  But still, I woke up with a headache.  Went to work for much of the day, but wore my shades most of the morning.  Finally, one of my co-workers asked if maybe my headache was a migraine.  Made perfect sense!  That's the first bad one I've had in several years.  By the time I went home I was feeling TONS better.

I'm traveling again.  Business, not pleasure.  I chose to drive this time, as opposed to flying.  I figured that since I was going to be here for two weeks, I'd like to have my car with me.  I'd be able to come and go as I pleased and even make it to church.  But I've been here since Sunday night and haven't moved my car even one time.  I'll probably get out and explore some Friday.

Every once in awhile I ask someone if they pray.  Either I'm asking for prayers or I want to share something with them that they'd really only appreciate if they're actively Christian.  I think it's safe to say that I've asked that question dozens of times.  Monday for the first time ever, when I asked someone if she was a praying woman, I received the response, "no".  I was surprised by the answer, mostly because I'm usually surrounded by people who pray.  But I didn't hold it against her or even show that I was surprised.  What I did was share the bible verse with her anyway!

I got a Facebook friend request yesterday that really surprised me.  I accepted the request.  And I'm looking forward to seeing what comes of that relationship.  And that's all I have to say about that...for now.

Tell yourself...

"You are gifted and capable beyond your wildest imagination. You have not yet begun to explore all the ways you can make your life count for etermity. Strength and diginity are your clothing. It's time for you to drop your bucket deep down into the well of possibilities that you've been ignoring all these years. Drop it all the way down and see what you pull up."

-- from Sisterchicks on the Loose by Robin Jones Gunn

Seven Word Status

Packing, cleaning, singing, and running errands today!

Six weeks...

...and 8.8 pounds lost.  WooHoo!

1 Corinthians 12:3b-7, 12-13

Brothers and sisters:
No one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.  There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit; there are different forms of service but the same Lord; there are different workings but the same God who produces all of them in everyone.

To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit.  As a body is one though it has many parts,   and all the parts of the body, though many, are one body, so also Christ.

For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons, and we were all given to drink of one Spirit.

Watching your sugar?

Each cube is a teaspoonful...
4.2 grams = 1 teaspoon of sugar, so ... 1 cube is about the same!