Transfigured Before Them

Beads of Joy 02-28-10
Transfigured Before Them
©2010 James Dacey, Jr. SFO

Lent 2010 - Day 12
Hello Everyone,

Here we are at the Second Sunday in Lent. Today God in all His Glory is shown before Peter, James and John. What an absolutely magnificent exciting sight that must have been. Today's gospel is: Luke 9:28-36 (The Transfiguration of Jesus). Time for the three disciples to learn the most important part of this experience, "And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!" v.35 Jesus must come first and foremost in our lives every single day. "The more we have denied ourselves during the day, the nearer we are each evening to the heart of our Lord." St. Madeleine Sophie Barat. That is so insightful and so in tune with today's gospel. We must stay alert and ready at all times to serve Him, honor Him and Worship Him. We like the disciples must not lose sight of Jesus, He must be our only God. No one and nothing else must be worshiped along side Jesus. How do we give Jesus our love and devotion to Him?

Let's not be blinded by anything in this world. Our sins and our slight unbelief's can derail us and keep us further from God than we may even realize. You know yesterday morning (Saturday morning), on my way home from working Friday night I was listening to Adventures in Odyssey a long time favorite kids program of mine, that I listen to faithfully. I'm going to share a little about my experience personally because I do see a parallel here. The shows title is: The Imagination Station, Revisited, II. If you follow the show this will all make sense. Well today Kelly was in the Imagination Station and she got to witness Jesus being betrayed, condemned and then crucified. I won't give it all away, but her faith was always kind of on the fence. Yeah she knows the stories and she knows who Jesus is, but her love for Him was never alive, it was never real to her. In this story today, she had the chance to really understand that Jesus' love for us was real; and that His death was real and that the love for Him that she has inside of her is now real.

My heart is very entangled in always thinking about Jesus. This story if you allow yourself to listen to Kelly's words, her cries, her realization to what she was beginning to understand, you'd cry tears of joy for her like I did. I was driving and I couldn't stop crying. This experience changed her life forever, Jesus became a real man, a true God in her eyes and in her heart. It was very powerful, I highly recommend Adventures in Odyssey to everybody. My kids enjoy it with me when it's on and we are all together. I am very open to many different outlets of learning and sharing of our Lord. When I first experienced Jesus in my life back in 1983, I was so hungry for His word, His teachings, anything I can get my hands on. Well through all that I was able to come across some really incredible teachers. My hunger never calmed down, I think I am more hungry now than I was 27 years ago. I listen to and read as much as I could find and that keeps me on track with my Lord.

I do my best to listen to as many Roman Catholic teachers that I can find like (Scott Hahn, Tim Gray, Fr. Benedict Groeschel, Fr. Andrew Apostoli, Fr. John Trigilio, Fr. Larry Richards and so many other EWTN teachers). But even with so many Roman Catholic teachers I still have found so many evangelical teachers that I am able to gain so much from. I stay on track with my Roman Catholic faith, I have learned through the years that once you are on track with your own denomination, all teaching fall in line with your own understanding, and you learn how to pick the crop, and get the best fruit off it at every teaching. Did that make sense?, I will never be led astray. Like with Adventures in Odyssey, and Chuck Swindoll and Woodrow Kroll, Dr. David Jeremiah, just to name a few. I highly recommend adding Catholic teachers to your daily walk with our Lord. You will be enriched with these teachings in your life.

Today's Challenge: Take the time today to pick one or more Catholic teachers or a specific EWTN show that you'd like to begin learning from. Your life will be so filled with joy, you'll wish you had done this sooner, I promise you that.
Your brother in Christ Jesus & His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr SFO

The Creator Shines Forth

Beads of Joy 02-27-10

The Creator Shines Forth
©2010 James Dacey, Jr. SFO

Lent 2010 - Day 11
Hello Everyone,

Dazzling, splendid, unsurpassed wisdom are mere surface scratcher's, when we begin to speak of how our Lord shines forth in our universe. He is most interested and is deeply involved with every individual He has thus created. We must remember God is the ultimate creator, who through His mere words created all things we see and even don't see, and all that we know, and all that we love. And yes He even created the things we detest and the people who make us angry. I'm not the kind of person who believes life is all random, and that everything just happens by chance. In my opinion if you believe that, then you have more faith in nothing, than I have in the living creating God of the universe. If you can believe all the splendor and beauty we see just randomly happened; wow I am speechless, which in and of itself is an accomplishment, to those who know me. LOL. This so called "randomness" I then conclude is one of the greatest miracles in all creation.

Every single human being and even every single existing thing; that we can see with our human eye, even with a microscope or a telescope or even a satellite can see. Ultimately in the end we have all been created to glorify God. We are in the circle of life and the Master Himself is the planner behind the entire world we live in. Everything that has been created in the animal and plant world has been created to support, feed and sustain each others existence in someway. I am certainly not a scientist or zoologist; but we all know there are the hunters and the hunted, and in the end even the hunters die, and become food and fertilizer for the environment it inhabits. Nothing just by chance happens, God's plan is far out of our reach of understanding. Even man's body returns to the dust of the earth for a purpose. The indisputable truth is that God created man in His own image and just a little lower than the angels. "What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the angels; you crowned him with glory and honor" Hebrews 2:6-7. Holy crap !!! Isn't that so EXCITING !!! LOL. Sorry for the outburst, it's just that learning about God's love is so exciting.

How in the world or even the entire universe could we ever contain all the joy we must have inside our hearts; knowing the true purpose, reason and desire God has in creating us. Ultimately the eternal destiny of all mankind is to love, honor and worship God. Our lives should be lived in imitation to the life of Christ, God's Son. "If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves." Philippians 2:1-3. And in God's magnificent design He has given each of us a soul, do you see the genius in this most precious aspect of who we are. The soul is protected from any destruction the world may attempt to do to us. Obviously as long as we don't "sell our souls to the devil, and deny God"; we are under God's protection. We can be killed, burned and completely physically destroyed, our bodies will return to the earth when all is done and our spirits will be united with God. The two are separate yet one.

Consider this scripture, "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father." Matthew 10:28-29. Today is a wonderful day for us to really look at the world around us. I don't know God's plan, I absolutely don't know all of what God has created; but what it is I do know is how much God, our Father loves us. Our sun and atmosphere ultimately were created so that we can live here on this planet and life can be sustained. I believe our soul was created so that we can enter and spend all eternity with God in Heaven. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16.

Today's Challenge: Prayer is a vital part of who we are. "Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer." Romans 12:12 Let's focus on a particular prayer today (Our Father, Hail Mary, even any other one) With that prayer, pray it slowly and purposely; giving the deepest most sincere love and devotion to God.

Your brother in Christ Jesus & His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr SFO

Be Reconciled To One Another

Beads of Joy 02-26-10

Be Reconciled To One Another
©2010 James Dacey, Jr. SFO

Lent 2010 - Day 10
Hello Everyone,

We must not allow anger to rule our lives. I admit I fall into the challenge of this trap at times, more so now than ever before in my life, mostly because of politics. Today's reading brings us to Matthew 5:20-26 (Teachings About Anger). It is only through the Grace of God that we can even remotely even think of dealing with such anger. Lent is a fabulous time for dealing with issues and topics in our lives that we want to change. We must completely uproot and remove this horrible disease of such a forbidden desire that destroys the heart and soul. Jesus guides us very specifically in scripture, "He went on: "What comes out of a man is what makes him 'unclean.' For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly." Mark 7:20-22. Many of you who know me, might be wondering how I can be angry. It's true I don't have an angry, mean and violent bone in my body. I really don't. But...

I'll speak to you from the heart, as I always do. I do have passions that if they are messed with, anger me to the boiling point. Here's a quick outline of some of these most sensitive topics that hit my anger nerve: "against anyone who dares to hurt my family, same with anyone who dares to harm friends that I love; when my Jesus is violently or viciously spoken of; when my dearest most Blessed Mother is treated with deep disrespect; when our freedoms in America are in danger of being deceitfully teared out of lives, and abortion, don't even get me started with abortion." I think I covered most of those topics that boil my blood. My passion alone was in those few words typed in that statement. This is what we must remember, "Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body. "In your anger do not sin": Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold." Ephesians 4:25-27.

We must reconcile ourselves before God and those we have such anger towards, from this most soul destroying sin. It is God who wants us to slow down and not be so quick tempered, "Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you." James 1:19-21. Our lives must not be burdened by the selfishness that is so entwined in anger. Yes selfishness is one of the central cords of anger. Think about it, why are we angry? Yes it maybe for a good justified honorable reason, but in the end, it's because they aren't doing, saying or acting like we expect them to. In all that even if we justify that, anger is not healthy, our actions should not follow our words or thoughts. Harboring anger only destroys the heart and soul.

In our reconciliation we must ask God for forgiveness. Even Jesus in His anger did nothing but express it immediately and explained why He felt that way He did. "So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves he said, "Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father's house into a market!" John 2:15-16. In today's gospel Jesus is very clear, "But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment" v.22. Anger eats away at the heart, may families hold grudges and anger towards one another, we must do all we can in God's grace to beg for forgiveness and guidance through these most stressful times.

Today's Challenge: What anger are we harboring right now in our lives? Do we feel a certain bitterness or hatred towards a particular person or group? Today I challenge you to write a letter to that person or group expressing you anger and that you forgive them. Do not mail letter, instead offer up to God, asking Him to help guide you to ask that person for forgiveness.

Your brother in Christ Jesus & His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr SFO

Infinity Can Not Be Aquired

Beads of Joy 02-25-10

Infinity Can Not Be Acquired
©2010 James Dacey, Jr. SFO

Lent 2010 - Day 9
Hello Everyone,

Eternity is the only place infinity can even be considered a real factor. There is no place in our life or in the world that anyone can visualize or begin even to have an inclination of an idea of true size of even what infinity can be. Even the mathematical formula for infinity might be just that, a formula. Because in the end the answer becomes an indeterminate value because of the continuum. The reality is that no one in our life, or in our world can ever fully imagine or conceive anything in terms of infinity or eternity. Let's look at some definitions, and then further see the definition of eternity, you can see how the two are interlinked into one another. Even to simply say infinity and eternity are forever, don't even grasp the limitlessness of its full capacity.

Infinity in·fin·i·ty (ĭn-fĭn'ĭ-tē)
1. The quality or condition of being infinite. 2.Unbounded space, time, or quantity. 3. An indefinitely large number or amount. 4. Mathematics. The limit that a function ƒ is said to approach at x = a when ƒ(x) is larger than any preassigned number for all x sufficiently near a. (OK, y'all understood that, right. LOL)

Eternity e·ter·ni·ty (ĭ-tûr'nĭ-tē)
1. Time without beginning or end; infinite time. 2. The state or quality of being eternal. 3. The timeless state following death. 4. The afterlife; immortality. 5. A very long or seemingly endless time.

Forever for·ev·er (fôr-ĕv'ər, fər-)
1. For everlasting time; eternally. 2. At all times; incessantly. 3. A seemingly very long time.

I really want you to be able to envision this: Real infinity has no limits of any worth, it is pretty much the endless of endless. Our minds are finite, limiting us to fully grasp something that virtually never ends. Scripture does speak of endless amounts in some ways, "And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore." Hebrews 11:12, now the next verse here is even more to the understanding I am trying to explain, "He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end." Ecclesiastes 3:11, do you see what I am saying now. See how the measure of time is just so enormous that even that can not be fathomed as scripture says. "I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world." John 6:51.

Infinity is superior to limitations of time and space. Somethings is our world are infinite, the stars in the sky, the grains of sand on all the beaches of the world. The sand like the stars are next to impossible to count. Just remember that God loves us: Infinity eternally forever. "Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever." 1 Chronicles 16:34.

A dear friend of mine, Sammy Billotti (I don't think he's related to the mafia Billotti, LOL). Anyhow, he said something to me very profound when I was a teenager. We use to sit in front of the garage (my and my dad's business - Mackauer Auto Body) and talk a lot. I gained much wisdom from this man. He said to, "Jim when you get home tonight, take a look into the clear sky, you'll see stars; well find a spot that looks like there is no stars and just into it for a moment. If we were able to truly see the depth of that spot, Jim, it would go on for all eternity." Pretty profound. Thought that would be fun to share with everybody.

Today's Challenge: I already know your answer. Take a look into the sky and systematically one section at a time, count all the stars that you see. It's said that if you make a fist and put in up to the sky covering a portion of the stars, just in that area you are covering there are an estimated 6,000 stars. So can imagine doing that covering the whole sky to the horizon would amount to. So instead of counting just look up in awe on a star filled night at the power and splendor of Almighty God and how much He loves us.

Your brother in Christ Jesus & His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr SFO

The Sting of Concupiscence

Beads of Joy 02-24-10

The Sting of Concupiscence
©2010 James Dacey, Jr. SFO

Lent 2010 - Day 8
Hello Everyone,

Even after our baptism and all our sins have been forgiven; and we have been reborn, nothing remains to stop us from going to Heaven, Except, I want you to take a look at this in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. "Yet certain temporal consequences of sin remain in the baptized, such as suffering, illness, death, and such frailties inherent in life as weaknesses of character, and so on, as well as an inclination to sin that Tradition calls concupiscence, or metaphorically, "the tinder for sin"; since concupiscence "is left for us to wrestle with, it cannot harm those who do not consent but manfully resist it by the grace of Jesus Christ." Indeed, "an athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules." CCC#1264 The serious challenge I see here is that we are left to wrestle with concupiscence, this is the stinger right there. By God's grace we must prove who we are in this struggle, concupiscence at its sharpest point gives us the natural tendencies to sin. We can resist with God's grace, but in so many of the teachings I have read, we can not absolutely, completely, day in and day out, without any doubt; never sin at all.

The reality of our salvation is that in the end, it is at our own hands. It is only through God's grace that we will be able to resist temptation to sin. To those who reject God's call unfortunately will be the cause of their own demise. Let us also not fall into the trap that so many do; by manipulation to ultimate forgiveness that God gives to all of us. In other words one might say to themselves, "I can sin today and tomorrow, and on Saturday when I go to confession God will forgive me." Because of the unfortunate tendency there are some who try to manipulate God's kindness. "What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?" Romans 6:1. We must not allow the sins and temptations of this world to mislead us, rather we should help one another in defeating sin, "remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins." James 5:20

We must also remember that before we can embrace the joy that can be ours, we must suffer and die to ourselves and our sins. To reject this will result in a bad outcome, "But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger." Romans 2:8, rather we need to be humble before God, "Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up." James 4:10, and, "Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time." 1 Peter 5:6 Our lives must not be self fulfilling and all about us; we were not created to be self serving, rather we were bought with a price and with that price we must love and adore our Lord. "For he who was called in the Lord while a slave, is the Lord's freedman; likewise he who was called while free, is Christ's slave. You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of men. Brethren, each one is to remain with God in that condition in which he was called." 1 Corinthians 7:22-24. We must remember these things as we walk in the light with Jesus.

This is no free ride, we are always accountable for what choices we make. Our lives must be lived with God's love inside us, and with that love inside of us, we need to be open in helping others cope with their challenges as best we can. "And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing." 1 Corinthians 13:3 Let us live a life that gives to others, "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." Ephesians 4:29. We are all God's children and in being children of the same Lord we are brothers and sisters who should be looking out for one another doing all we can to help one another receive the reward of eternity with our Father. Nothing in this world is going to matter in the end, all that will matter will be the last thing we are told by God in His judgment. "All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law." Romans 2:12

Today's Challenge: This can be fun just because you'll have your radar up and running all day. Today or pick any day. Keep 100% track of every single sin you commit, write it in your journal (venial and mortal). And I encourage you to really really watch yourself. Be truthful, don't miss any of them.

Your brother in Christ Jesus & His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr SFO

God The Son Is The Word

Beads of Joy 02-23-10

God The Son Is The Word
©2010 James Dacey, Jr. SFO

Lent 2010 - Day 7
Hello Everyone,

The nature of God is mysterious indeed, but one thing that is certain is who He is. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." John 1:1. "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." John 1:14 See we got into scripture as soon as we begin today. Isn't the thought of all this so exciting. Jesus the Son of the Father is indeed the Word. The image of the invisible God is breathtaking, and it's His magnificence that makes our heart skip extra beats. "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation." Colossians 1:15, It is God's glory that we see poured throughout the pages of scripture. It's His unending love for us that makes the Word come to life for us. "The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven." Hebrews 1:3

We are all called to share in the knowledge of His love for us in His word. Whatever we see and know that is good in this world and the entire universe for that fact, is of God. God is eternal as is His word is also eternal, "All your words are true; all your righteous laws are eternal." Psalm 119:160. There are also many New Testament verses that guide us to the eternal greatness of His word. "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life." John 5:24. I get so fired up over scripture, God's word pours His love deep into my heart and soul every time I spend time meditating and pondering scripture. "Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God." John 6:68-69.

Think of this profound though: To all things that just are; God our Almighty God is ever present in them, because He is the infinite power, of all that is in His perfection, of all that He creates. I think you get the point. You see God is so Almighty so powerful, so present everywhere that the entire universe in and of itself in all it's endless infinity of space, can not contain God. Inside God's word we can open that power and absorb so much of it into our lives; by enriching our lives with His wisdom. We will ever fully understand the magnitude and ultimate visual size of God? probably not. But the wonder and beauty of it all, is that we don't have to, in order for us to be so blessed by Him. Now do you begin to see where I get all this overwhelming, overflowing Joy inside my heart and soul for my Lord. I'm telling your life will never be the same, once you fully allow Him in.

Are you starting to get really excited now, about having God as the ultimate center of your life? Do you really understand to some degree about how much God loves each and everyone of us individually, as much as He does? I hope and pray that this Lenten Season is dynamic for you and that you are able to draw yourself ever so much more closer to our Lord. "Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity." 2 Corinthians 8:2, do not allow any excuse to keep Him away in your life. There is no trial to big, no sorrow to sad that can't be carried by Jesus, as He helps you through the toughest of times. We must truly trust in His word in our life, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28. Now that Jesus helps us, He then leads us to help others, "Carry each others burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ." Galatians 6:2 Be creative in your studies, keep it interesting and learn all you can, to better absorb as much as you can into your life.

Today's Challenge: I give you a bible challenge. See how many times you can find in scripture that Jesus is referred to as "The Word". I'm gonna give you the answer, the study will good fun and maybe help you start your own bible study habits.

Your brother in Christ Jesus & His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr SFO

God's Eternal Embrace

Beads of Joy 02-22-10

God's Eternal Embrace
©2010 James Dacey, Jr. SFO

Lent 2010 - Day 6
Hello Everyone,

We are without a doubt certain that there is a God, at least most likely all those who read this blog. It is His loving friendship that we must at all costs attain and then retain. The only way that can even be remotely possible; is that man (both male and female) must live a life to some level of spirituality throughout. Without God we are nothing. You don't have to accept that statement, I'm not asking you to accept it, that my dear friends is the plain hard truth. Truth the unbelievers don't wish to hear. We really must have our own personal conviction and sincere deep love for Jesus alive and on fire in our soul. We don't have to wear our faith on our sleeve, evangelizing everyday; instead we need to have that special personal relationship with Him. There is no other purpose that is so fulfilling and eternal for all mankind. In our love for Him we find that we are able to build a firm solid unshakable foundation in His word. "So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ." Romans 10-17. Many know that famous verse, here's another, "By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible." Hebrews 11:3

Yes there are skeptics. But remember many a skeptics through their own studies have ended up developing their own convictions by what truths they have found. Anyone can be skeptical about anything, that doesn't mean it's not the truth. And the key word here is "conviction". If indeed we are believers of God and followers of Jesus; then there is something inside our heart, and our soul that make Him become the center nerve of this enlightenment, it's our own personal conviction. Many of you have read "my story", well that is my conviction. Those events, and my awareness of what was going on, as my eventual surrender to Jesus began; that is forever burned inside my soul, it is who I am in my faith and love for my Lord. "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me." Galatians 2:20.

Our minds are not limited to only the knowledge of God. It is through our own experiences of worship, love and devotion that we expand ourselves learning ever so much more about the nature of God. "seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence." 2 Peter 1:3. Allow Jesus Christ to come alive inside of you, in such a way that your life is ecstatically overflowing with so much joy you just can't contain it anymore. "For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men." Romans 14:17-18 You can make a huge difference in this world by devoting your life to His will. He will direct you in ways you may have never ever thought possible before.

It is through our love for God, that at the end of our life we are able to embrace Him as we enter into all eternity united with Him. God has given mankind a most precious gift; one that is supernatural and beyond anything anyone can comprehend. It is our unwavering faith and love for Him that opens our eyes and allow us to see Him. "And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,: Ephesians 2:6. There are so many exciting scriptures that help us focus on Heaven. "For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him." Colossians 1:16 I strongly encourage you to write out your story, share your joy with others.

Today's Challenge:Take 10-15 minutes today and in a very quiet place, where you can hold the cross with the crucified Christ on it. Hold it and look upon it in silence and think about how much He loves you. Suggestion, through this experience develop and write out your personal conviction about how your life in the Spirit began.

Your brother in Christ Jesus & His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr SFO

Unnerving Test of Our Faith

Beads of Joy 02-21-10

Unnerving Test of Our Faith
©2010 James Dacey, Jr. SFO

Lent 2010 - Day 5
Hello Everyone,

Welcome to the First Sunday in Lent. Today our Lord is tempted when He is weakest; yet in His weakness He finds strength in God and in God's word. And we think we have it hard today don't we. We think everything in our world don't work the way we want it to, when we want it to, immediately without patience or understanding. I know I am not speaking to everyone. But I know I will say this; I have been there, in the face of challenges that made me want to "eat the loaf, pat my own back and jump off a cliff". Come one people, we all face the grit of this life; maybe your on the end of a rough period of time, or maybe something unexpected just hit you in the face this week. We are all human beings, we have all been there at some point. How and what we do with these experiences tells us who we are. Are we trusting in God, in everything? Do we boldly go where no satan has ever gone before? See how I said that, did you get it. I am speaking about straight into the arms of God.

Satan had the nerve to tempt our Lord, and to do it three times, from three different angles. He thought by going after the frailness of His human needs that Jesus the Christ, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords; was going to collapse and fall into his trap. He even used God's word to show Jesus that it's OK. How easily do we give in? Are we weakened by the beauty of what is shown to us? or Are we bold in knowing that Jesus will protect us from anything satan attempts to do to us? We must never surrender to anything that will ultimately send us into the abyss of hell for all eternity. God knows what we can handle and He will not allow anything to go beyond what we can fend off. "No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it. " 1 Corinthians 10:13

Remember that Jesus endured three temptations; the devil can be very articulate in his approach as he uses reason to deceive us in our walk with Jesus. He will present logic and an understanding of things that he wants us to understand, so that our thinking becomes likes his. In his deceit and disingenuous approach on us; he changes his appearance so that we believe he is something other than who he really is. "And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve." 2 Corinthians 11:14-15. Satan waits for and knows when he sees the op-tune time to make his attack. His appeal to us is usually when we are down and out. This is why it is so important that we keep our heads and stay focused on Jesus. Satan seen our Lord's physical need for water, and thought that would be the perfect time to offer him food.

There is nothing in this world that we should ever allow to lead us away from God. The best way to keep our minds and thoughts focused is with much prayer and reading of the scriptures. Our minds and thoughts need to be constantly cleansed with God's word and thoughts of Him. By doing so, we are excising our minds to basically keep an eye out for the evil one and his misleading ways. By staying spiritually in shape, we will be more apt to notice the subtleties of temptation and know when and were to veer to, so we can make a clean break for it. I personally believe the more scripture we know and the more we know how to access certain verses within our bible; the more ready we are able to deal with handling life's challenges and temptations. It really turns into a very powerful tool for us. Let's do all we can to not fall victim to the traps satan lays before us. By no means is this going to be easy, but we will be faced with many challenges ahead there's no doubt in that truth. It's going to be the awareness of them that we will help us better defeat them. I will be praying for all of you.

Today's Challenge: Keep a section within your spiritual journal noting when you feel you are tempted most. Write down what is going on in your life.

Your brother in Christ Jesus & His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr SFO

Pray Everyday, Everywhere

Beads of Joy 02-20-10

Pray Everyday, Everywhere
©2010 James Dacey, Jr. SFO

Lent 2010 - Day 4
Hello Everyone,

Yes I am serious, it's not as impossible as it may sound. And it's a good worthwhile habit to develop. I made this decision about incorporating prayer into my life probably about 20-25 years ago. Let me walk you through some of my own prayerful daily habits. As a side note, please note that I am not perfect, absolutely not, by no means of the word. I do the best that I can do every single day, I to have many challenges, disappointments and sorrow that make even good habits have a challenge at times. But since I have been doing this in my life for so long now, it does come rather easy to me. I work five days a week (Mon-Fri); and on average I drive 8-10 hours a night and my weekends have a slight difference to the habits I am going to share. To me there is no excuse to not be praying to Jesus, God or Mary every single day. Do we have time to eat, do we have time to watch TV, do we have time to be on-line; well then we have time to pray to Almighty God. If we dare have time for any of those things and so many other things; then what we are saying to God is that those things are more important than Him. Archbishop Fulton Sheen said, "why pray?...well then why breathe?"

Let us start by understanding what prayer is; now it can be defined in many ways, but I like the way Archbishop Fulton Sheen defined prayer best, "Prayer is a lifting of the mind and heart to God." Prayer is also thee greatest gift anyone can ever give, as long as we follow through and really pray for those we tell we are praying for. And on the flip side receiving prayer from someone is gift that is beyond the greatest to receive, it's the most precious, most valuable and the most eternal gift we can ever receive. With that being said, I will say that if there was one gift I'd rather receive from anyone over anything in this world, it would be there prayers for me. OK, let me bring you into my crazy, fun, exciting world. I like to consider myself a prayerful man, I am very devoted to the rosary and my bible study; I would guess pretty much to the levels of addiction at times. LOL. Don't prejudge that yet, let me explain. I have so much overflowing Joy inside my heart and soul because of all this. Keep in mine this statement: Junk in - Junk out, or would you rather Jesus in - Jesus out.

Here's my daily schedule at work, since I drive for a living, I take my rosary prayer and meditation Cd's and my New Testament cassette's (hey don't laugh, at least there not 8-tracks, these tapes are 27 years old, and can't be replaced, and they are awesome Janelle heard them). Every single day at work I pray my 20 decade rosary followed by listening to 1-2 books of the New Testament, I also have Cd's of Fr. Larry Richards and Archbishop Fulton Sheen and Scott Hahn and a bunch of others. I am very addicted to constantly feeding my life with inspiration that sparks tremendous Joy into my heart and soul. But that's what I pretty much do everyday I got to work. On the weekends my prayer life is a tad bit different, it's usually only one rosary each day and a tremendous amount of reading and writing in my bible study. Like I said earlier, an addiction. Also key to my daily prayer life, I talk to Jesus in "conversation - one way" every single day. What I mean by that is this; when I am thankful about anything (having a good day, seeing a sunrise, being treated rudely, literally anything that raises an eyebrow). I look up to Heaven and say, "Thank You Jesus,..." and comment about it. I always do this, probably 10-20 times a day, this is a habit engraved inside me. I don't even think about remembering to do this, it's literally like breathing to me.

I will also confess that even with all this most joyous prayer time that I have been blessed with probably spending about 3-5 hours a work day singing to the top of my lungs. Ok, everyone can make all the usual comments, but I will even agree with all of you. LOL. I keep the radio so loud that even I can't hear myself...so there. LOL. Maybe I can write, and I know for a fact that I adore and love Jesus. But one thing is without a doubt the truest statement of all in today's blog: I can not sing a tune! Yes I sing, but not anything that Simon Cowell would say yes to. LOL. Today let's reflect on our own personal prayer life, Lent is a good time to re-evaluate the time you might be able to spend in conversation with Jesus; praying your rosary or just in whatever form of prayer you enjoy the most. Let us remember the example Jesus always showed us in scripture, here are just a few of them, "But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed." Luke 5:16, "After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed:" John 17:1, "One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God." Luke 6:12, "One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples." Luke 11:1. I pray that you all have a blessed day. I hope I made you laugh today.

Today's Challenge: Take one full day of your normal routine and see how you can entwine prayer within it. I'm sure it's possible.

Your brother in Christ Jesus & His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr SFO

Mankind's Sacrifice to God

Beads of Joy 02-19-10

Mankind's Sacrifice to God
©2010 James Dacey, Jr. SFO

Lent 2010 - Day 3
Hello Everyone,

It all started through mankind's offering of himself and his entire life to God; once mankind consciously acknowledges God's existence, it is at that precious moment that the exchange of sacrifice begins. Through the sacrifice of the Holy Eucharist which Jesus instituted for us, He truly shares Himself with us every time at Mass. Jesus Christ is ever present in the Holy Eucharist (I know many don't believe that, but I do and so do about ten billion others worldwide). I told y'all a Bold Fresh approach now. No matter what's been said know that it is true, I'm just being me, very bold in my faith. "The Eucharistic presence of Christ begins at the moment of the consecration and endures as long as the Eucharistic species subsist. Christ is present whole and entire in each of the species and whole and entire in each of their parts, in such a way that the breaking of the bread does not divide Christ." CCC 1377 It is through Jesus Christ that we are able to give ourselves to God.

By living a life completely as a sacrifice to God we are open to His will for us in our lives. It's all in the Eucharist for us in the Christian life. Along with our sacrificial life we must focus fully on the Eucharist. Jesus can be found in the Eucharist and in finding Him, we find ourselves the way He wants us. It is through Jesus that we are made victorious in this life. "Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship." Romans 12:1. I can personally tell you that by offering your body and your life fully; that your life will be so filled with an absolutely overwhelming amount of Joy, that's the Joy I always talk about. I will tell you that when you are filled with this JOY, no matter what life throws at you, you will survive it. My life is far from perfect, challenges seem to hit me from all angles, all the time, non-stop.

Lent is also known as a time where many for us to make sacrifices. Sometimes I stop chocolate or a certain favorite food until Easter. In our home we even post all the families individual sacrifices on the cabinet in the kitchen. I think that's a very humble way to show each other and our Lord how much we each individually love Him. But I believe in our walk with Jesus we need to take this to the next level. What I mean by that, is to really sacrifices our entire life to Jesus in ways that the world would probably say, that we are wasting our life away. When you do sacrifice to that level I believe it is then that you have fully given up everything for Him. Do you see what I mean? What is it that consumes all of your time now in your heart? "Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name. And do not neglect doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is pleased." Hebrews 13:15-16. Stop anything in your life that takes you away from Him, or go one step beyond that; and don't waste your time doing anything meaningless that does not help you draw closer to Him.

Do not let anything or anyone so consume you that Jesus is no longer the very first thought you have in your heart. We do not stand alone when we give up everything for Him. When we do so, we stand with Jesus in all we do for our love for Him. Our external sacrifices are a reflection of our internal sacrifices that show Jesus our true and complete love for Him. "Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace." Romans 6:12-14. Be bold and strong in this, following Jesus was never meant to be a time that we become selfish, on the contrary rather it is a time for us to live a life pleasing to Him. In doing so we must never put ourselves before Him or others. Just do it, your life will be refreshed beyond anything you can possibly imagine.

Today's Challenge: On Sunday's and only on Sunday's, offer up a sacrifice of not enjoying a certain activity or a special favorite food you like.


Your brother in Christ Jesus & His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr SFO

Footnote: CCC (Catechism of The Catholic Church)

Mankind's Approach to God

Beads of Joy 02-18-10

Mankind's Approach to God
©2010 James Dacey, Jr. SFO

Lent 2010 - Day 2
Hello Everyone,

First of all we must get a few things perfectly clear before we begin. Man (meaning all mankind - both male and female) is not from some evolution of an ape (if you want to believe that then that's your fantasy, not mine); or any sort of an angelic being (our human abilities do not allow us to be that way, angels have not flesh and blood); nor an automaton (meaning a human being who acts in any mechanical way). Man is Body and Soul. This is who man is, and this is how man and woman were created: "Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." Genesis 1:26-27 I hope you enjoy this bold fresh approach. The objective for us during this Lenten Season is not be politically correct, but rather Spiritually Correct. I am inspired by Fr. John Corapi.

Man is flesh and blood, and he has a mind to think and reason with. No other being exists in the world like man. Animals merely use their instincts they can not think or feel or reason like a human can. We are unique and we have been made in God's image, "the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being." Genesis 1:7 Then God created woman, "So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man's ribs and closed up the place with flesh. Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. The man said, "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called 'woman,'for she was taken out of man." Genesis 2:21-23 I took this approach as I begin this Lenten Season, so there is no confusion to what it is that I believe.

So how does Mankind approach God? What's really neat is that our minds have the ability to imagine and we can use words and phrases; and with those words and phrases we can sort of picture things we really can't see. That alone makes us extremely unique, and we tend to use our senses a lot to understand things. And we also believe what God himself has told us, so mankind sees God as someone with a body; Jesus is God's Son, we are made in the likeness of God, how else would we picture God. When mankind is convinced about anything they believe they usually approach it and do something relative to that belief. Because we understand what magnificence God has accomplished in creation; biological design and the countless infinite things about our own physical being, the planet we live on and the universe we revolve in; we see God as someone who is huge is size, strength and power, that which we can truly never will ever fully comprehend.

Now knowing all that, mankind's approach to God is also unique. We prefer to approach God on our knees or prostrate before Him. The approach is almost like a fear, but it's a fear knowing that His love for us is immeasurable. The fear is full of love and devotion to our Lord and Creator and Maker. "Then the man bowed low and worshiped the Lord." Genesis 24:26, "And a leper came to Him and bowed down before Him," Matthew 8:2, "Seeing Jesus from a distance, he ran up and bowed down before Him;" Mark 5:6. But we also know that our God is a jealous God, we are not to worship, love or desire anything or anyone before Him. "You shall have no other gods before me. "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand {generations} of those who love me and keep my commandments. "You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name." Exodus 20:3-7

Today's Challenge: Pray to Jesus on your knees. Try to develop this into a regular daily habit within your own private prayer life.


Your brother in Christ Jesus & His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr SFO

Ash Wednesday - 2010

Beads of Joy 02-17-10

Ash Wednesday - 2010
©2010 James Dacey, Jr. SFO

Lent 2010 - Day 1
Hello Everyone,

Today Lent officially begins. It's all about ashes today. Fasting also has a lot to do with the tradition of Lent; and that is such a wonderful part of our walk with Jesus leading up to Easter. But we're not going to look at either of them today, instead our focus will be all about repentance. Our sins are always a burden to us, our everyday emotional balance in life needs some balancing. When we prepare for a good serious sincere confession; it is so important that we first of all know that we need to be fully open to trusting God. When we begin to prepare for our confession it is also so important that we pray to the Holy Spirit; asking for guidance and direction while we examine our conscience. In this preparation we must not confuse our guilt with our shame. It is the guilt that is sorry for our sins. "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives." 1 John 1:8-10

In the sorrow of our sins know that this feeling of guilt is a healthy sign for us. It shows us that our conscience and soul are alive and healthy. We must remember and I am guilty of this also, when we are sorry for committing our sins we must resolve to never ever do that sin again. I think it's time for all of us to fully embrace the Act of Contrition. Let us see how these words need to echo in our heart; so that the choices we make help stop us from constantly committing the sames sins over and over without ever being truly sorry for them. "I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance; for you were made sorrowful according to the will of God, so that you might not suffer loss in anything through us. For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death." 2 Corinthians 7:9-10

As we begin Lent, let us begin with a wholehearted fully open confession. The ordinary means of making a good confession is by telling a priest. We don't have to meet with him face to face, behind the screen is fine. I know there are many of you who don't believe you need to see a priest, but if you are a Roman Catholic it is part of our belief and our faith; that is how we confess our sins. "Confession to a priest is an essential part of the sacrament of Penance: "All mortal sins of which penitents after a diligent self-examination are conscious must be recounted by them in confession, even if they are most secret and have been committed against the last two precepts of the Decalogue; for these sins sometimes wound the soul more grievously and are more dangerous than those which are committed openly." CCC 1456. I am only looking to help, and if I am sharing anything with my Roman Catholic faith I will be fully informative with what the Church expects of us.

Our whole intention and purpose with Penance is for us to restore God's grace and friendship with us. "The whole power of the sacrament of Penance consists in restoring us to God's grace and joining us with him in an intimate friendship." Reconciliation with God is thus the purpose and effect of this sacrament." CCC 1468 Let us begin this Lenten Season with the cleansing of our soul before God; with a confession that opens us fully showing Jesus the love we truly have for Him. Just like the leper asked Jesus, "Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean." Matthew 8:2 Some people want to use part of Lent to prepare for your confession, I think that's wonderful. I have plans to make this Lenten Season a very informative exciting time for all of us to grow spiritually, I have lots of fun ideas laid out for the upcoming weeks. I will share challenges with you, dare you to do things to test your faith, and help you to experience the joy I have every single day in my life. There is no commitment required by anybody for all of this, it's all up to you.

Let's make every effort to frequently cleanse our soul in confession.


Your brother in Christ Jesus & His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr SFO


Act of Contrition
O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended thee, and I detest all my sins because I dread the loss of Heaven and the pains of Hell, but most of all because they offend thee, my God, who art all-good and deserving of my love.

Footnote: CCC (Catechism of the Catholic Church)

When All Resources Are Gone

Beads of Joy 02-16-10

When All Resources Are Gone
©2010 James Dacey, Jr. SFO

Hello Everyone,

No I am not thinking about the end of the world; and you are one of the last people alive, and almost 99% of all life on earth has perished. But you know this traumatic look at such a tragedy might be the reality of best understanding when all our resources are gone. What if everyone we know, and all the stuff we possess should completely disappear from our lives, and we are stripped of them for the rest of our time here until our death? That is a chilling thought indeed. But we do realize that we don't necessarily need such an earth shaking event for that to happen. We could become a prisoner in a foreign land and never be released, or we could fall into a coma (it's said that people can hear, but are limited in how they can respond), we could experience a horrific accident or fire. So let us think outside the box, while not leaving the box. Here's a wonderful way to look at this, "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight." Proverbs 3:5-6

The ultimate thought here is: What do we do, how do we live on, once all our family and friends and resources are gone from our lives? Lent is fastly approaching. Why not use this time to slowly separate the (wheat from the chaff) in our lives and create in us a deep true understanding how in this life we need nothing but Jesus. I always say, this is my little ditty, "YOU CAN HAVE ALL THIS WORLD HAS TO OFFER; ITS WEALTH, ITS LUSTS, ITS THINGS; ALL I WANT AND DESIRE IS JESUS." I have not only said that boldly in print for many many many years, but I scream it to the top of my lungs in the flesh. "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?" Romans 8:35. Nothing can separate us from His love. "But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did." 1 John 2:5-6

As Lent fast approaches, let us consider using this season to cleanse our heart and soul before God. Together we can experience this Lenten season like never before. I have given myself a couple of challenges and goals that over the next few weeks I will be sharing with all of you. I invite you to be part of this fantastic, exciting time for all of us. "But what does it say? "The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart," that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved." Romans 10:8-10 Lent 2010 shall forever be a season that I pray changes your life for the better and helps draw you ever so much closer to Jesus.

I challenge you: To begin with in your own private life let's start with these two things. First of all, start a spiritual journal if not for the rest of your life, let's at least try to through Lent. Use this journal to write down those things that are alive in your heart that draws you to Jesus, maybe it's just random thoughts, maybe it's a poem, or a story, just write them down. Second seriously do a full in-depth examination of your conscience. Let's take every single sin we have ever committed and never asked forgiveness for; and place them before Jesus at the foot of the cross. Dig deep inside yourself, do not be afraid to cry. I have been there many times, tears are such an incredible part of the healing process. Once you have emptied your heart and soul of all these things that hurt you and offend God, it's time to go to confession

When you lose everything, remember in Jesus you have everything.


Your brother in Christ Jesus & His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr SFO

Is God Really Enough For Us?

Beads of Joy 02-15-10

Is God Really Enough For Us?
©2010 James Dacey, Jr. SFO

Hello Everyone,

Are we really thinking about or considering a question like that? Does it even have to be asked? How can God really not be enough for us? See now that's the question I'd be asking. I know, but you are all probably saying, "Jim, you're the one writing this blog, change the title." LOL. It's fun having two way conversations in a blog. LOL. Well I'm not going to change it, instead let's force the thought of this question. Do we really need to ask ourselves this question? I always think it's best to never have pride or arrogance with our faith. We should never think we are so pious that no sin, no desire, no God will ever come before or be enough for us other than Almighty God. And besides doing that only adds more sin into our lives. God alone is more than sufficient for us. That is why I feel my joy, the joy I share, the joy I embrace in my life, it is so incredibly fulfilling that it overflows like it does. God is absolutely enough for us, I am certainly sure for me personally.

Is God really enough for us? Do we place anything or anyone in front of God? Do we do so, so subtly that we don't even realize it? Our lives must be filled with the love that God has instilled in us. No one in this world or our entire life will ever love us like God does. God's love is beyond the love we experience or even know here on earth. We are God's children, He alone is more than enough for us to live a fulfilling life. "The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory." Romans 8:16-17. As God's children we should live our lives as a reflection of His love for us to others. "Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma." Ephesians 5:1-2

Is God really enough for us? Does your desire for your personal possessions and the grip of money in your hand create a hunger inside you that drives you closer to those things? They really shouldn't. Only God can judge and only God will judge. But we know for a fact that we can not put anything before God. In each of us God has placed this burning desire for Him, we all know that empty feeling inside us; the empty feeling we use to have before we feel in love with Jesus. I know many people in this world think that burning desire is for other things. Some think power, or success or wealth is the fulfillment of that desire. I compliment and applaud the success of everyone; but let us not confuse success with having another God in our life. Our loyalty and our allegiance (if you will), needs to be with God. God really is more than enough for us.

Is God really enough for us? So is He really number 1? Is He all that matters? Does that void, that emptiness inside you feel fulfilled when you think of Him? When we spend time with someone that we love and adore, we tend to think about that person often throughout our day, and they tend to be all that matters to us in our thoughts. They will inevitably become number one in our life. God needs to be that person, that love, that special somebody we spend all our time thinking about. What's absolutely incredible is with God, we don't need a cell phone, or an email address to communicate with Him. He is always available for us, He is always there for us whenever we need Him or want Him. We can be with Him when we are troubled, or when we want to praise Him, or even in the silence of our hearts. Only God alone can communicate to us in ways we can't even explain.

Allow God alone to fill your life with an abundant everlasting love.


Your brother in Christ Jesus & His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr SFO

Blessed Are You Who Are...

Beads of Joy 02-14-10

Blessed Are You Who Are..
©2010 James Dacey, Jr. SFO

Hello Everyone,

Our heart should be flowing with so much love and joy in today's reading. Our Lord begins sharing with us such words of wisdom and love. Today we read Luke 6:17,20-26 (Sermon on The Mount Begins) What joy, what excitement, what wisdom is flowing out of these words; this teaching is known as one of the most powerful, most dynamic teaching of all times. The blessings and woes in this teaching address' the real conditions of our humanity. The basic core and center nerve sensed throughout the Sermon on the Mount is about our love for our neighbor. This teaching is such an exciting motivation for us to hear, absorb and embrace in our lives. "When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law." Matthew 7:28-29

What is really one of the inner most desires of a person throughout their life, what do we thirst for? I liken our quench for Him like when Jesus spoke to the woman at the well. "Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." John 4:13-14 This study and reflection reminds me also of another important book we should also have in our study library: The Catechism of the Catholic Church. In the pages of this book you will learn through biblical references how this entire book is derived from the Word of God. In the Prologue V.18 "This catechism is conceived as an organic presentation of the Catholic faith in its entirety." I referred to this book also to share with you some of the treasures of our Catholic faith within its pages. "Desire for true happiness frees man from his immoderate attachment to the goods of this world so that he can find his fulfillment in the vision and beatitude of God." CCC 2548

Are you beginning to sense the excitement and joy jammed packed into the Sermon on the Mount? Jesus is the fulfillment of the law, He is the Christ, the Savior. Jesus said, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished." Matthew 5:17-18. "The Beatitudes depict the countenance of Jesus Christ and portray his charity. They express the vocation of the faithful associated with the glory of his Passion and Resurrection; they shed light on the actions and attitudes characteristic of the Christian life; they are the paradoxical promises that sustain hope in the midst of tribulations; they proclaim the blessings and rewards already secured, however dimly, for Christ's disciples; they have begun in the lives of the Virgin Mary and all the saints." CCC 1717

Blessed are you, holy are you, rejoice and be glad... Ok, Ok, I'm starting to sing again, some of you know that song, LOL. I enjoy watching the version of the Beatitudes in the movie "King of Kings" I actually can say it with Jeffery Hunter in full, verbatim, to the movies version. That is why I always say I really like watching certain movies over and over. Your brain begins to really be part of what you repetitiously are seeing and hearing. Repetition is the mother of learning, skill, retention. But the question with the beatitudes is: How ever can we find any sort of happiness or joy in poverty, or hunger, mourning and persecutions? That is a tough question but here are some of my observations: First we must empty ourselves of all that would shut us out from God. Poverty of Spirit seeks out God alone. Hunger of Spirit seeks out nourishment for God's word. Combine just those two thoughts and your life will be changed.

Poor in spirit, means to be humble, humility is the realization of God's gifts for us.


Your brother in Christ Jesus & His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr SFO

Footnote: CCC (Catechism of The Catholic Church)

Can't Send Them Away Hungry

Beads of Joy 02-13-10

Can't Send Them Away Hungry
©2010 James Dacey, Jr. SFO

Hello Everyone,

Yet another spectacular miracle of Jesus feeding the crowds. In early January I blogged about the feeding of the five thousand, and in that miracle Jesus multiplied five loaves and two fish. Today we are reading Mark 8:1-10 (Feeding of the Four Thousand) in today's gospel Jesus multiples seven loaves a few fish. Let's be clear that these two miracles are two distinctly different miracles. With the five thousand fed it took place at the head of a lake near the Jordan heading towards Bethsaida, and with today's miracle of feeding the four thousand that took place at the eastern shore near the region of Decapolis. In my research in several places it seemed to want to make it clear that these two miracles that happened near each other in time, weren't mistaken or thought to be the same one.

In this miracle Jesus called the disciples, and He had such compassion for the crowd; mostly because they had been with Him for several days. Jesus said, "My heart is moved with pity for the crowd, because they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat." V.2 The exhaustion of the multitude must have been overwhelming. I can only imagine what it must have been like to travel three days with a crowd of thousands. Think of it, it was pretty much primitive in their travel habits, no buses or trains or planes. You couldn't just pull your camel into a local gas station, jump off the camel and hit the restrooms. Ah, now you see what I mean. Aside from that obvious challenge, what about cleanliness with just washing and clean clothes. Our perception of how we live is unlike anything how they lived. But then that's all they knew; and I would say there interest and desire to be with Jesus made the whole experience well worth it.

Another very interesting part of this miracle is that when Jesus told the disciples that He didn't want to send the crowd away hungry. The disciples to some degree, confessed the fact that they themselves were insufficiently able to feed the crowd with their own resources. "Where can anyone get enough bread to satisfy them here in this deserted place?" v.4 Now the miracle of Jesus multiplying the five thousand loaves only recently happened just prior to this. I wonder why the disciples couldn't remember the mighty miracle Jesus did with what little He had. In this particular miracle, Jesus sat down, blessed the bread and fish and gave thanks, broke the bread and distributed it to the crowd. When all were satisfied, they picked up the fragments and filled seven baskets and Jesus then sent the crowd home. Wow, how blessed to have been there.

What we see here in this miracle is that no one on earth can truly satisfy the hunger of another. It's only God alone who must be in our lives to fulfill our hunger pangs. Let us open our hearts and allow Jesus to be the one, the only one who satisfies the hunger we feel deep inside us. I know that feeling, back before my whole life changed with Jesus being part of it; I use to feel a pit of something inside of me missing something. I could never figure out what it was. I use to work with my dad a lot thinking I was in need of a career to fulfill my life, well that was fun but it never filled that space. Even with a relationship, I enjoyed it, in fact I loved it, but "she" to could not fill that space inside my heart. There is a special place inside all of us where Jesus is to reside. No one else, and nothing else can ever fill it, we may think something else can; but the reality is, it's only made for Jesus.

Is your hunger for God's word and Jesus in your life, drawing you ever so much closer to Him?


Your brother in Christ Jesus & His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr SFO

Biblical Reasons For Bible Study

Beads of Joy 02-12-10
Biblical Reasons For Bible Study
©2010 James Dacey, Jr. SFO
Hello Everyone,

Today I am taking a little bit of a different approach on the blog. Today I am using my bible research techniques to locate in scripture reasons why studying biblical doctrine is so important for us in our Christian walk. Come along on this journey and see why I enjoy this so much. This is just the tip of the it all. Believe me when I say that the different ways you can enjoy bible study are basically endless, I do mean endless. And you will find as I have say in prior blog, that at different times in your life, the same scripture will have different meaning in your life. Let us begin, see how bible study helps us, here are just a few ways.

Bible Study Helps Us Settle Into This World"Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming."
Ephesians 4:14

Bible Study Helps Us Reflect Who We Are From God"Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth."
2 Timothy 2:15

Bible Study Helps Us Be Better Equipped In This World"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God."
Ephesians 6:10-17

Bible Study Helps Us Become Bold In Our Faith"Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, like men sent from God."
2 Corinthians 2:17

Bible Study Helps Us Understand Jesus' Return"Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever."
1 Thessalonians 4:13-17

Bible Study Helps Us Understand How The World Will End"But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare."
2 Peter 3:8-10

Do you see how exciting this can be. I won't continue with this topic anymore, I think everyone is beginning to understand and see why I am so excited about scripture. You can easily spend days on each one of these individual scriptures. Simply by using the commentary and the cliff notes in your bible for a more in depth look at the verses.

I pray that you enjoying your bible study even more now.

LOVE YOU GUYS!!!!
Come PRAY THE ROSARY with us every evening Monday through Friday 9pm EST with our 
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Your brother in Christ Jesus
And His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr OFS

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Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes

Beads of Joy 02-11-10

Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes
©2010 James Dacey, Jr. SFO

Hello Everyone,

A most joyous day for us to celebrate. The first apparition at Lourdes was on February 11, 1858. There were a total of eighteen apparitions. The last one was on July 16, 1858. It's said that Bernadette use to fall into an ecstasy during these apparitions, there were hundreds of people who attended the later visions, but no one except Bernadette saw or heard the apparition. On this most special day we reflect on today's gospel: Mark 7:24-30 (The Faith of a Syrophoenician Woman). Has Jesus ever made you feel like He put you off? Has your faith ever been so tested, that you stand strong through some of the toughest of words yet still refuse to "not believe"? Surely this scripture will fill your heart with such joy and hope. This woman was indeed tenacious, she knew Jesus was the one to heal her daughter of the unclean spirit. And in the end He indeed healed her.

Do we approach Jesus truly knowing who He is? Do we seek Him out and beg Him for a healing, a healing we know only He can do in our lives? Being tenacious and never giving up is a good quality, and we do read about it in the bible. And in all those situations we read about, in the end they all got what they asked for, a healing. Look at this scripture, "This girl followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, "These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved." She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so troubled that he turned around and said to the spirit, "In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!" At that moment the spirit left her." Acts 16:17-18 She would not leave the disciples alone, but in the end she was healed and the unclean spirit left her. Are we like that, does our passion and love for Him sink so deep into who we are, that it literally flows in our blood?

You know Jesus also used this method to get a very important message across to Peter once. I really like this particular passage a lot. I believe Jesus teaches us in this scripture that being persistent in our faith and in our method of evangelizing; at times when we know it's critical, we to can be like Jesus. "When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?" "Yes, Lord," he said, "you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Feed my lambs." Again Jesus said, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me?" He answered, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Take care of my sheep." The third time he said to him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, "Do you love me?" He said, "Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Feed my sheep. I tell you the truth, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go." Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, "Follow me!"" John 21:15-19

On this wonderful Feast day let us think about what we really want God to heal in our lives; or maybe we want to share our faith with someone and they just don't get what you are saying, or maybe it's something else. I challenge all of you to honker down and begin. Maybe there is a particular sin, or bad habit you really want God to heal you from, so that it will forever leave you. Trust in Him, pray about all these things and allow the Holy Spirit to guide you through this. I know I am very persistent with Jesus and our Blessed Mother. And I have to tell you, not everything has come to pass; but I am so impressed and pleased that overall, so many prayers have been answered through the years. Trust in Him, allow Him to lead your heart.


Prayer to Our Lady of Lourdes

O Mother of Mercy, comforter of the afflicted, you know my suffering and my needs. Look upon me with loving kindness.
By appearing at the Grotto of Lourdes, you made it a sacred place,
a sanctuary of healing.Many have been cured there, both physically and spiritually. I come, therefore, with faith in the Lord's healing power.
O Mary, please grant my requests for healing. Most of all, help me to know and embrace God's will for me. Amen


Your brother in Christ Jesus & His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr SFO

Encouraging Bible Study

Beads of Joy 02-10-10

Encouraging Bible Study
©2010 James Dacey, Jr. SFO

Hello Everyone,

Well I guess it's no secret that I enjoy bible study. But I will say that it's time for everybody to take out a pen and paper and begin to write. LOL. Why study the bible you ask? Yes I did hear you say that. There are so many reasons why, but today we will only reflect on just a few ideas. Here's a super powerful scripture that will help magnify the power of bible study for all of us. "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." 2 Timothy 3:16-17. See what I mean ! It is so important that we fill our minds and hearts and conscious and sub-conscious with scriptures. There is so much evil and bad in the world today that we all deal with everyday. It is so important to empty all that junk out so that we can be filled with what is good and meaningful - God's word.

For fun I'd like to share some interesting statistics about the bible with you. It's always nice to know fun interesting things about something we love and cherish. Some of the basic things are: 39 books in the Old Testament / 27 in the New Testament, (929 chapters in the OT / 260 NT), (23,214 verses in the OT / 7,959 NT), depending upon your translation there are about: (593,493 words in the OT / 181,253 NT). And here's a fun note worthy things: A recent survey by Barna Research Group revealed that nearly 92% of American households own at least one Bible. The longest word in the Bible is "Mahershalalhashbaz" (18 letters), found in Isaiah 8:1. A man who lived to be 969 years old can be found in Genesis 5:27. Do you also know that both the Old and New Testaments are entwined with scripture all leading up to Jesus? That is why it is so important when you do study your bible, that you spend time in both the Old and New Testaments. "Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel." Isaiah 7:14

Throughout my 27 years of private personal bible study; many priests and fellow Christians have always said to me, and now I say to you: You can write in your bibles. I have many verses underlined, sections circled, dates at different points in my life. I have had to replace two bibles in the past 27 years, I am now officially on my third, though I own about four personally. They were replaced mostly from pages being so worn out, the covers were falling off and they were becoming so frail they were starting to fall apart. Our bibles need to be a place we can come to for wisdom and understanding of God, a place to more deeply know and love Jesus, a place to deepen our faith, a place to embrace hope in our eternity, etc. In my bible I have a blank page dedicated, where I write the names of all those people I pray for. So when I say, I will pray for you, or I have you in my daily prayers. I really mean that. To me it makes the most sense to keep the names of all those I always think of close to the one person I cherish the most: Jesus.

Welcome to my world, here is a list. This list is a list of books I use when I spend two or three or fours hours studying. Sometimes I on my days off (I work nights), I will spend the entire evening researching and writing as I study scripture. See how simple my list is: My Bible NAB and I also have an NIV , The New Jerome Biblical Commentary (I have had this book for many years. Highly recommended to me by Fr. Mullally, it's a $100 book but it's well worth the investment.), and The Catechism of the Catholic Church, is a very powerful teaching book/document. And I also use an on-line bible concordance, and I go to the library a lot and take out books that dig into all aspects of our Christianity. But please note that any secular books I use must have the "Imprimatur" in the front pages or I won't read them. The Imprimatur tells me that this writer is on the same page as me in my faith. A priest explained that to me way back in the early 1980's.

Bible study never has to be boring, it can be exciting every single day.


Your brother in Christ Jesus & His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr SFO

PS. If anyone is interested in doing bible study to some degree with me or interact more with me about scripture, or ideas on how to have more fun with scripture study, please feel free to email me personally. And we'll take it from there. jimdaceyjr@yahoo.com

Their Hearts Are Far From Me

Beads of Joy 02-09-10

Their Hearts Are Far From Me
©2010 James Dacey, Jr. SFO

Hello Everyone,

Today's scripture is a rather interesting reflection. In this gospel Jesus interacts and has a conversation with the Pharisees and some of the scribes. Today's gospel is Mark 7:1-13 (The Tradition of the Elders). This is all about the unwritten laws that the scribes and Pharisees considered to be as binding as the Mosaic Law. Jesus rejects the elders tradition, and He warns them against petty human teachings before the divine commandments; and those that use their tradition to avoid their obligations. Jesus is without a doubt thee authoritative one to interpret the Old Testament. Isn't it ironic that the very altar the scribes and Pharisees were using was the very altar of God the Father, while they were chastising God the Son.

How would the Pharisees and scribes expect us to approach God? Do we approach God with our hearts, and soul and mind clean and pure? The answer is a simple "NO". No one can, we are all sinners. Jesus accepts us just as we are. "This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." Romans 3:22-24, aren't we so blessed and loved, do you see why I get so excited over scripture. Here's another one. "But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions it is by grace you have been saved." Ephesians 2:4-5 God's love for us is greater than our sin, He accepts us just as we are. It's God's love that is poured out into our hearts. Father Larry Richards said it best, "If we only knew how much God loves us, we'd all be saints."

If you live by these laws and rules or any laws and rules that are not from God, but rather from man; then all they do is distance you from God. In vs.6-7 of this scripture Jesus refers to the Book of Isaiah. "He replied, "Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: 'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men." You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men." The Lord wants us to love and obey Him, not a bunch of rules and laws a couple of people made up. God has given us His word, and we need to spend time it and learn directly from Him what it is that our lives are all about.

Anyone can be blinded easily in this world today, there many people out there doing just that to fellow believers. Sometimes we may not even realize it's happening to us in our lives. "But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping." 2 Peter 2:1-3 Please stay on the path that leads to God. Be involved in your church community, share about your faith, build deep lasting bonds. You'll have the time of your life I promise you.

Stay loyal to a good church, study your bible and pray everyday.


Your brother in Christ Jesus & His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr SFO