Matt 8:2 (cleansing, Trinity)

* Welcome God every morning before work by taking ~5 min to read this Living In Faith Exchange (LIFE) Group devotion (life-devotions.blogspot.com), which has snippets from Living Faith (livingfaith.com).

Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean. Matthew 8:2

Living Faith snippets: "Before [receiving the Eucharist], we pray this short prayer: "Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word and I shall be healed." This prayer echoes the response of a man whose house Jesus was about to visit: "Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof; only say the word and my servant will be healed" (Matt 8:8). [Virtually the entire Mass can be tied back to the Bible.] Unlike the man [with leprosy], our sicknesses tend to be on the inside rather than the outside. But his faith in Jesus' healing power is exactly the kind of faith we too can exercise, as we walk up the aisle to receive our Lord." by Kevin Perrotta

Sr. Francelle snippets: "Dearest Ones, From the moment we were baptized, God lives in our souls, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. That's why it's so important to make the Sign of the Cross with great respect. It's a mystery, so we can't understand it. But there are lots of mysteries I don't understand, but I still believe them. For example, I don't understand electricity, TV, email, the way my body converts food into energy, etc., but I still believe they exist. Children are never too young to learn about God living within them and if they hear their parents talking to God in their hearts, they, too, will learn that we are never alone - we have a friend to go to night and day and it's someone who really cares. Recently, one of the Sisters I live with heard from her niece in Iowa, who lost her home and everything in it in the floods. She called and said she had nothing left - but then she said, she began to feel arms around her and she knew it was Jesus holding her - she said with this experience, instead of having nothing, she suddenly began to feel she had everything! The Bible has much to say about God living in us: "The kingdom of God is within you," Jesus says over and over again. "God is love and he who lives in love lives in God and God lives in him." (1 Jn. 4:16) In his last prayer, [Jesus] prayed, "I pray not only for them, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me." (Jn. 17:20-21). May we all be one in Christ." See the entire devotion at sisterfrancelle.blogspot.com.

ProLife news: Abortion clinic in Dallas closing http://www.lifenews.com/state3341.html.

Feast Day (St. Cyril of Alexandria): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyril_of_Alexandria.

Faith quote: "The living, eternal bond of love between the Father and the Son is the Person of the Holy Spirit. There really is only one God, yet with three distinct Persons, each fully God in a manner that is distinct yet related to the others." by Bishop William Lori (Columbia magazine)

Our Prayers: Abortion, our enemies, our troops, China earthquake, Myanmar cyclone, Midwest floods, depression/despair, prisoners, Vicki Miller (her cancer treatment), Devantae (11 yr old boy paralyzed)

* New: Liz Curry (brother Bob broke hip), Kay Castle (cancer treatment for Ms. Nancy Wheeler, Welcome Home Warrior funding efforts)

Through Christ Our Lord,

Pat
Phil 4:13

* Outreach: Let's gladly invite those near us to join our LIFE Devotions group (Mark 16:15), providing routine spiritual connection and strength (simply forward a devotion with an invitation).
* Today's Bible readings at www.usccb.org/nab/today.shtml.
* Prayer: Prayer connects us with God's will & His miracles, thereby changing us & helping others. Wayne Watson lyrics, “When God's people pray, there is hope reborn, there is sin forgiven, and miracles you can't explain await!” "If you pray that God will move a mountain and He doesn’t, assume Christ wants you to climb it instead & see Him."
* Defend the unborn: 'Rescue those who are unjustly sentenced to death; don’t stand back and let them die' (Prov 24:11). 'Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you' (Jer 1:5). 'It is a great poverty that a child must die that you might live as you wish' Blessed Mother Teresa. Click for Prayer to End Abortion.
* Evangelization: Let's make room for non-believers (be a friend, make a friend, lead friend to Christ) and perpetual re-evangelization of self and those near us, by way of daily prayer (relationship) and following Christ's example of selfless love, mercy, and service.
Let's joyfully live out the Good News and gladly tell others about it (Mark 16:15)!