Beads of Joy 03-19-10
Joseph - Jesus' Foster Father
©2010 James Dacey, Jr. SFO
Lent 2010 - Day 31
Hello Everyone,
We know Joseph was a carpenter, we know he was good and upright man; we know he was Mary's husband, and Jesus' foster father. What other possible things could we learn by the role Joseph played in Jesus' life; and the example he has set before all us as a good husband and an obedient man of God. Yes, Joseph is a descendant of David, he has a most impressive genealogical trace back to David the King. I'm not going to list the entire genealogy that can be found in Matthew's first chapter, but the end highlight states, "and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ." Matthew 1:16. Joseph always listened to whatever direction God sent Him, without questioning what he was told. Jesus and Mary's safety were Joseph's first greatest concern and whenever the angel of the Lord warned him he didn't hesitate to listen. "When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife." Matthew 1:24.
Joseph lived a life, true to the obedience of God. Today we celebrate the one man who not only was directed and guided by God himself to protect and take care of God's chosen; but who also stood strong closest to them without ever being concerned about himself. His own pride and even respect held no concern to himself; first and foremost he only protected those two blessed chosen ones of God. Let's take a look at scripture and see how loyal Joseph most definitely was. "When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. "Get up," he said, "take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him." Matthew 2:13. Joseph lived a life that was so connected to God that we can learn so much from his example. He and our Dear Beautiful Blessed Mother were two of God's most trusted and obedient children. Jesus was so perfectly placed in the hearts and lives of two of God's absolutely wonderfully loving people.
The example they have given us as parents is unmatched. For their parental ways were so blessed because of their obedience to Almighty God. I can see how we can learn so much from them. Today let's look at Joseph's role in this most blessed Holy Family. I know we only learn and read about Joseph briefly in scripture, but I think there was a reason for that. God placed Joseph in Jesus' path to keep Him safe during His most vulnerable defenseless years of His life. I know both moms and dads read these blogs; but today's celebration is about a Godly man, a loving foster dad, and a most devout husband. I feel both moms and dads can gain much comfort and wisdom from all this. A good dad and a devout husband who has devoted his life and love to be obedient to God; is someone every man should desire to be, and every woman should desire to marry. God's holy and most blessed family show us how simplicity and love are valued tremendously in the success of a God-loving family.
As guardian of the holy family, we can see him as the protector of the church. His bold, selfless life encourages me personally as I hope it does for you. Nothing about Joseph was indeed about Joseph; it was all about Jesus and Mary. What an exciting, thrilling, overflowing joyful way to live ones life. We need to do the same, centering our thoughts, first and foremost on Him. Jesus' love and concern need to our first focus, followed by loving and adoring His most precious mother. Here is a quote that truly sums it all up for us about Joseph, "He was chosen by the eternal Father as the trust worthy guardian and protector of his greatest treasures, namely, his divine Son and Mary, Joseph's wife. He carried out this vocation with complete fidelity until at last God called him, saying, "Good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your Lord." this came from a sermon by Saint Bernardine of Siena.
Today's Challenge: Let us look at Joseph in a new light. His priorities should be ours. As our Blessed Mother is such an example of saying Yes to God and being obedient to Him, so Joseph does the same. Today let us ponder thoughts and prayers of love for dads we know and love in our life.
Your brother in Christ Jesus & His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr SFO
Friday, March 19, 2010
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Joy - You To Can Have Some
Beads of Joy 03-18-10
Joy - You To Can Have Some
©2010 James Dacey, Jr. SFO
Lent 2010 - Day 30
Hello Everyone,
Well here we are in the final day and thoughts about Joy. Today I hope that I can lead you to some ideas and activities that help spark a new era in your own life spiritually. This is a time for you to experience so much Joy that you can't contain it any more and all you want to do is share it with others. Just as a side note, remember that just because you are sharing all your Joy with everyone around you, no matter how much you give away, you will never run out. When we are blessed with Joy by God, God sends us a never ending flow of His love, without ever ceasing. For starters I want to say that we need to build our day around Jesus, instead of trying to squeeze Him in somewhere so we can say we "prayed" today. You can make all the money your heart desires, live in the largest most expensive home, drive the newest vehicles, but in the end without Jesus, none of that means anything at all. Now on the other hand, if you have all those things and you have Jesus in your life, then you will be led by God's Holy Spirit to use those blessings to bless others by being a reflection of Jesus through those things.
I like to begin each day with an immediate thought of my Lord, thanking Him for allowing me another day to be with my family and another day to serve Him. I think of that even before I get out of bed. I don't fully recall when and where all that started, but I always think that as I awake. I sorta have a similar approach to going to sleep. For starters I go to sleep when I am sleepy, I never try to force sleep, I tend to inevitable just get out of bed when I do. When I go to sleep, I get into that comfortable position, you know what I mean, the pillow is just right, the covers are perfect, the lighting is dim and the breeze of the fan is perfect, LOL. OK you get the idea. Well as I begin to go to sleep, I close my eyes and look around inside my eye-lids.. Stop laughing LOL. And as I do I ask Jesus to take me on another fantastic journey of dreams in my sleep. Weird?? I like it, I fall asleep fast, many times I see a door open with light, or a window glaring light through it, I basically look for the light in the darkness of my eye-lids. I always find it, and then I head towards it. I figure if I die in my sleep, it must be something like that. It's a cool way to go to sleep.
See how interesting it can be when I bring you into my inner circle. LOL. You never know what you'll learn about me. Well let's continue thinking about what else can be done so that you to be strange, goofy and overly excited as I am in this life. LOL. You may have heard this, spend time in front of the cross, looking at Jesus hanging there on it. The crucified Jesus is a powerful image when you really understand that Jesus is God and Man and that He was killed because of our sins. We put Him up on that cross. Sit in front of the cross often. I have a 12 inch cross with the crucified Jesus nailed onto it literally. I hold that often and allow His love for me to shine from it. It's heart wrenching seeing someone love sinful old me so much that they would willingly die for me to save me from my own sinfulness. Another thing I do very often is watch The Passion of The Christ. That movie is probably the closest thing to the real violence Jesus experienced. I am willing to bet He was treated even worse. Watch the Scourging at the Pillar scene, it tears my heart out every time I watch it; and I keep watching it keeping my head and my heart focused on what Jesus did for me.
Finally I want to say, you need to spend time in prayer on your knees. In your home, in a chapel, at Mass. As long as kneeling doesn't injure you and you are able to get up, then you need to kneel before Him. He deserves our worship and I believe by doing that often, it keeps our mind and heart in focus that we are kneeling before God, the Almighty God of the Universe. We are not bigger than Him and He is not there for our disposal for whatever we ask, and we dare not treat Him like He is a nobody or just a statement on money. He is God. He is a loving, merciful, caring God, but remember He is still God. And most importantly each day we need to be humble before Him, arrogance and a mean spirit towards Him is no way to show God how much we love Him. Jesus loves us so much, embrace that love that He freely gives us and once you got hold of it, share it with everybody you can.
Today's Challenge: Spend a minimum 30 minutes total a day with Jesus somehow. 15 minutes of prayer, 15 minutes of silence before the cross, be creative and spend time with Him. Then build your day around those activities.
Your brother in Christ Jesus & His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr SFO
Joy - You To Can Have Some
©2010 James Dacey, Jr. SFO
Lent 2010 - Day 30
Hello Everyone,
Well here we are in the final day and thoughts about Joy. Today I hope that I can lead you to some ideas and activities that help spark a new era in your own life spiritually. This is a time for you to experience so much Joy that you can't contain it any more and all you want to do is share it with others. Just as a side note, remember that just because you are sharing all your Joy with everyone around you, no matter how much you give away, you will never run out. When we are blessed with Joy by God, God sends us a never ending flow of His love, without ever ceasing. For starters I want to say that we need to build our day around Jesus, instead of trying to squeeze Him in somewhere so we can say we "prayed" today. You can make all the money your heart desires, live in the largest most expensive home, drive the newest vehicles, but in the end without Jesus, none of that means anything at all. Now on the other hand, if you have all those things and you have Jesus in your life, then you will be led by God's Holy Spirit to use those blessings to bless others by being a reflection of Jesus through those things.
I like to begin each day with an immediate thought of my Lord, thanking Him for allowing me another day to be with my family and another day to serve Him. I think of that even before I get out of bed. I don't fully recall when and where all that started, but I always think that as I awake. I sorta have a similar approach to going to sleep. For starters I go to sleep when I am sleepy, I never try to force sleep, I tend to inevitable just get out of bed when I do. When I go to sleep, I get into that comfortable position, you know what I mean, the pillow is just right, the covers are perfect, the lighting is dim and the breeze of the fan is perfect, LOL. OK you get the idea. Well as I begin to go to sleep, I close my eyes and look around inside my eye-lids.. Stop laughing LOL. And as I do I ask Jesus to take me on another fantastic journey of dreams in my sleep. Weird?? I like it, I fall asleep fast, many times I see a door open with light, or a window glaring light through it, I basically look for the light in the darkness of my eye-lids. I always find it, and then I head towards it. I figure if I die in my sleep, it must be something like that. It's a cool way to go to sleep.
See how interesting it can be when I bring you into my inner circle. LOL. You never know what you'll learn about me. Well let's continue thinking about what else can be done so that you to be strange, goofy and overly excited as I am in this life. LOL. You may have heard this, spend time in front of the cross, looking at Jesus hanging there on it. The crucified Jesus is a powerful image when you really understand that Jesus is God and Man and that He was killed because of our sins. We put Him up on that cross. Sit in front of the cross often. I have a 12 inch cross with the crucified Jesus nailed onto it literally. I hold that often and allow His love for me to shine from it. It's heart wrenching seeing someone love sinful old me so much that they would willingly die for me to save me from my own sinfulness. Another thing I do very often is watch The Passion of The Christ. That movie is probably the closest thing to the real violence Jesus experienced. I am willing to bet He was treated even worse. Watch the Scourging at the Pillar scene, it tears my heart out every time I watch it; and I keep watching it keeping my head and my heart focused on what Jesus did for me.
Finally I want to say, you need to spend time in prayer on your knees. In your home, in a chapel, at Mass. As long as kneeling doesn't injure you and you are able to get up, then you need to kneel before Him. He deserves our worship and I believe by doing that often, it keeps our mind and heart in focus that we are kneeling before God, the Almighty God of the Universe. We are not bigger than Him and He is not there for our disposal for whatever we ask, and we dare not treat Him like He is a nobody or just a statement on money. He is God. He is a loving, merciful, caring God, but remember He is still God. And most importantly each day we need to be humble before Him, arrogance and a mean spirit towards Him is no way to show God how much we love Him. Jesus loves us so much, embrace that love that He freely gives us and once you got hold of it, share it with everybody you can.
Today's Challenge: Spend a minimum 30 minutes total a day with Jesus somehow. 15 minutes of prayer, 15 minutes of silence before the cross, be creative and spend time with Him. Then build your day around those activities.
Your brother in Christ Jesus & His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr SFO
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Joy - Overflowing Inside
Beads of Joy 03-17-10
Joy - Overflowing Inside
©2010 James Dacey, Jr. SFO
Lent 2010 - Day 29
Hello Everyone,
As promised today we continue reflecting on Joy. But also note that today is St. Patrick's Day, so don't forget to celebrate. Happy St. Patrick's Day everybody. NYC will be having its 249th Annual St. Patrick's Day Parade, which will take place today, the Parade starts on 44th Street starting at 11 am. Everyone is Irish on St. Patrick's Day. Okay, now let's continue these reflections on Joy. Today I'd like to share how I keep the focus, the thoughts, the faith, everyday throughout the day pondering it in my mind. I never get lost in the confusion of a day's activity such that my mind and my heart drift away from thoughts of my Lord. No matter what is happening to me or around me, I thank Jesus for all that is good, I thank Him for the challenges I don't understand and I pray for the arrogance and ignorance around me throughout my day. I also pray for those I see suffering that I pass, in accidents, or ambulances, and even those in the hospitals I pass. This has become a very natural part of who I am. It's all about awareness, and it is through that awareness that the Joy inside me continues to overflow.
I seek nothing for these things, like I said to you on Monday, I want to bring you into my inner circle of Joy, so that you to can experience the overwhelming overflowing abundance of Joy I experience everyday. I also pray that you are inspired to maybe change your daily lives; so that your everyday is much more focused on Jesus. I realize that still many of you might not understand the high energy and excitement of the entire thought being all wrapped up in Jesus. So I'd like to help you better understand the Joy. Let's say you were to plan an extravagant vacation to the one place you've always wanted to go. And this trip would be for as long as you wish, and there was no limit on what you can do while you were at this place and you'd have a blank check to basically spend whatever you needed while you were there. But there were a few things you needed to do to prepare before heading out. But realized that the excitement and joy that was ahead will be well worth the few things required, and that in doing them, you gladly did them !! You see where I am going with this.
This journey through life now, is for that vacation to where we want to go (Heaven), and there are some things our Lord asks of us in preparation of being able to go (Confession, Adoration, Mass, Fellowship, Drawing others to Him, and so much more). Now place that overwhelming Joy into your mind and heart thinking about the prior example of that extravagant vacation, and you will begin to see and understand how I can maintain such a super high level of ecstatic Joy all the time. My mind and heart have tunnel vision for God, our eternity and all that God has truly given to us in this life. There is so much here on planet earth that we can complain about, be unhappy with and never find Joy in. But with that being said, we also have so much to be thankful and grateful for. Just having all that Jesus gave us in Him dying for us, is worth more than virtually everything else put together. And I got to tell you, just saying that, thinking that and then typing that further builds up the Joy I already have in my life.
You to can have all this super high level, overwhelmingly exciting Joy in your life. Just keep Jesus as your main brain, heart and soul focus. Love Him above everyone and everything everyday. Tomorrow I will dig even deeper into ways that you can have such an exciting experience in this life. I will tell you guys my life isn't all peaches and purple dinosaurs. OK, LOL. See I made you smile. We all face challenges, and losses and heartbreaks, we all do, we wouldn't be human if we didn't. Life was never promised to be some perfect cup of tea. The real world kicks in the minute we take our first breathe, so buckle up and hang on. LOL. Jesus needs to be our co-pilot, our wing man, our coach, our lawyer, our doctor, our defensive end, our offensive end. He needs to be entwined in our lives in such that nothing in our life avoids Him. Once we can establish that thought, it does get rather easy, tomorrow I will share so much more about that.
Today's Challenge: Write down the activities you have everyday in your life. (eg. work, school, volunteer, whatever) next to them honestly write down what or who is the absolute center focus during those times, consciously or subconsciously. If they aren't Jesus or God or Our Blessed Mother, then you need to change it. For me, staying focused on Jesus all the time makes all things good, no matter what I am doing.
Your brother in Christ Jesus & His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr SFO
Joy - Overflowing Inside
©2010 James Dacey, Jr. SFO
Lent 2010 - Day 29
Hello Everyone,
As promised today we continue reflecting on Joy. But also note that today is St. Patrick's Day, so don't forget to celebrate. Happy St. Patrick's Day everybody. NYC will be having its 249th Annual St. Patrick's Day Parade, which will take place today, the Parade starts on 44th Street starting at 11 am. Everyone is Irish on St. Patrick's Day. Okay, now let's continue these reflections on Joy. Today I'd like to share how I keep the focus, the thoughts, the faith, everyday throughout the day pondering it in my mind. I never get lost in the confusion of a day's activity such that my mind and my heart drift away from thoughts of my Lord. No matter what is happening to me or around me, I thank Jesus for all that is good, I thank Him for the challenges I don't understand and I pray for the arrogance and ignorance around me throughout my day. I also pray for those I see suffering that I pass, in accidents, or ambulances, and even those in the hospitals I pass. This has become a very natural part of who I am. It's all about awareness, and it is through that awareness that the Joy inside me continues to overflow.
I seek nothing for these things, like I said to you on Monday, I want to bring you into my inner circle of Joy, so that you to can experience the overwhelming overflowing abundance of Joy I experience everyday. I also pray that you are inspired to maybe change your daily lives; so that your everyday is much more focused on Jesus. I realize that still many of you might not understand the high energy and excitement of the entire thought being all wrapped up in Jesus. So I'd like to help you better understand the Joy. Let's say you were to plan an extravagant vacation to the one place you've always wanted to go. And this trip would be for as long as you wish, and there was no limit on what you can do while you were at this place and you'd have a blank check to basically spend whatever you needed while you were there. But there were a few things you needed to do to prepare before heading out. But realized that the excitement and joy that was ahead will be well worth the few things required, and that in doing them, you gladly did them !! You see where I am going with this.
This journey through life now, is for that vacation to where we want to go (Heaven), and there are some things our Lord asks of us in preparation of being able to go (Confession, Adoration, Mass, Fellowship, Drawing others to Him, and so much more). Now place that overwhelming Joy into your mind and heart thinking about the prior example of that extravagant vacation, and you will begin to see and understand how I can maintain such a super high level of ecstatic Joy all the time. My mind and heart have tunnel vision for God, our eternity and all that God has truly given to us in this life. There is so much here on planet earth that we can complain about, be unhappy with and never find Joy in. But with that being said, we also have so much to be thankful and grateful for. Just having all that Jesus gave us in Him dying for us, is worth more than virtually everything else put together. And I got to tell you, just saying that, thinking that and then typing that further builds up the Joy I already have in my life.
You to can have all this super high level, overwhelmingly exciting Joy in your life. Just keep Jesus as your main brain, heart and soul focus. Love Him above everyone and everything everyday. Tomorrow I will dig even deeper into ways that you can have such an exciting experience in this life. I will tell you guys my life isn't all peaches and purple dinosaurs. OK, LOL. See I made you smile. We all face challenges, and losses and heartbreaks, we all do, we wouldn't be human if we didn't. Life was never promised to be some perfect cup of tea. The real world kicks in the minute we take our first breathe, so buckle up and hang on. LOL. Jesus needs to be our co-pilot, our wing man, our coach, our lawyer, our doctor, our defensive end, our offensive end. He needs to be entwined in our lives in such that nothing in our life avoids Him. Once we can establish that thought, it does get rather easy, tomorrow I will share so much more about that.
Today's Challenge: Write down the activities you have everyday in your life. (eg. work, school, volunteer, whatever) next to them honestly write down what or who is the absolute center focus during those times, consciously or subconsciously. If they aren't Jesus or God or Our Blessed Mother, then you need to change it. For me, staying focused on Jesus all the time makes all things good, no matter what I am doing.
Your brother in Christ Jesus & His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr SFO
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Joy - Exciting Daily Thoughts
Beads of Joy 03-16-10
Joy - Exciting Daily Thoughts
©2010 James Dacey, Jr. SFO
Lent 2010 - Day 28
Hello Everyone,
Wasn't yesterdays blog exciting? I hope now, that little by little you are beginning to see how I can stay all juiced up like I do all the time, everyday. Yes I face challenges, yes I get discouraged, yes I feel hurt and pain just like everyone else. The difference with all of us is how we deal with it, and embrace that which we have been given by God. I don't see challenges as God punishing me, I don't see it like "woe is me" either. I use to. But understanding what Jesus has done for me has given me a whole new appreciation for my own pains and trials in my life. Today I'd like to reflect on my daily thoughts. What is it that's different about what I think about everyday, and what someone who isn't overflowing with joy thinks about. I bet you'll be surprised, maybe even shocked. And then maybe some of you might just say that you understand and that you to think the same as me. No matter how it's understood, please understand now that it's all about Jesus to me in my life. We all have a one way ticket through life. We must help each other along the way, but we can't take away each others pain, and we can't prevent or control the outcome of someones death. We are individuals in spirit before God at judgment.
This walk, a journey if you will, has many aspects to it. Most of us have families, most of us have jobs, and we all have friends. Entwined in that we all want to incorporate our faith and love for Jesus, and for God. How ever is it possible when we feel like we are being pulled in every direction all of the time? Great question ! Every single day of my life includes thoughts of when I might be with my Lord for all eternity. No it's not a death wish, on the contrary it's a life wish. Today we call it Predestination. I'm really into the definition thing as you have all noticed, so let's see how the word predestination is defined:
Predestination (pre·des·ti·na·tion) 1. the act of predestinating : the state of being predestinated 2. the doctrine that God in consequence of his foreknowledge of all events infallibly guides those who are destined for salvation.
See why I like to fully understand the definitions of a word. Predestination is all about the foreknowledge, we already know the ending. We know Jesus wins this spiritual war on earth. We know that Jesus' death had purpose, we know that God loves us. We know so much about this entire experience of life already that no matter what gets thrown at us, we should be able to handle it. I didn't say we'd get to make the outcome be the way we want it. But by God's grace we will be able to manage our challenges more like Jesus would want us to, that's where Joy comes in again.
On a daily basis, I obviously spend time writing, and planning what I am going to write in each days blog, so those thoughts are always there. But I do far more than that. I think of all the wonderful tools we have that draw us close to our Lord and my heart literally skips a beat, further expanding the depths of my joy. It is so exciting thinking about how I can draw myself, and my life even closer to Him. Let's take the bible to start with. That book, those words, the scriptures, the stories, the parables, the people, the miracles, Jesus' words, they all come to life to me in my life. OMG I can go on and on just thinking about how much time I can and do spend in His word. God has given us a most precious part of His love in His word. Then think about the power of the Holy Spirit that Jesus has instilled in each of us. A piece of God through the power of the Holy Spirit indwells in us. And that part of us helps us stay even closer to Him. It's the greatest co-pilot anyone could ever wish they had in their lives. See how Joy thing comes to life for me. I pray that these blogs spark an overwhelming excitement inside your soul and heart, that you can't even contain it.
See what I am talking about everybody. Now you can see how I think about the bible and how much excitement and joy is jam packed in that wonderful book. See now you can learn of other books that generate similar joy in my life. I have a sorta mini library for personal reflection and spiritual growth that I use to guide me along the way, and help me with my research. Here they are: Catechism of the Catholic Church, St Jerome Commentary, Catch me a rainbow Too (SFO), My Daily Bread, Preparation for Death, Devotion to Mary, Teachings of the Catholic Church Volumes I&II, and so many others. I try to keep my life rich in learning as much as I can about my Lord, my relationship to Him, His relationship to us; and the more I keep learning the more exciting my life really is. We will continue tomorrow as we further reflect on this Joy inside my heart that I want you to experience, by learning how I keep His image in my mind and heart throughout the day.
Today's Challenge: Find new and creative ways you can make your life an instrument in sharing Jesus with others. Don't be afraid that your joy may overwhelm others, it's funny when I watch people react. If it does, share Jesus with excitement and love.
Your brother in Christ Jesus & His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr SFO
Joy - Exciting Daily Thoughts
©2010 James Dacey, Jr. SFO
Lent 2010 - Day 28
Hello Everyone,
Wasn't yesterdays blog exciting? I hope now, that little by little you are beginning to see how I can stay all juiced up like I do all the time, everyday. Yes I face challenges, yes I get discouraged, yes I feel hurt and pain just like everyone else. The difference with all of us is how we deal with it, and embrace that which we have been given by God. I don't see challenges as God punishing me, I don't see it like "woe is me" either. I use to. But understanding what Jesus has done for me has given me a whole new appreciation for my own pains and trials in my life. Today I'd like to reflect on my daily thoughts. What is it that's different about what I think about everyday, and what someone who isn't overflowing with joy thinks about. I bet you'll be surprised, maybe even shocked. And then maybe some of you might just say that you understand and that you to think the same as me. No matter how it's understood, please understand now that it's all about Jesus to me in my life. We all have a one way ticket through life. We must help each other along the way, but we can't take away each others pain, and we can't prevent or control the outcome of someones death. We are individuals in spirit before God at judgment.
This walk, a journey if you will, has many aspects to it. Most of us have families, most of us have jobs, and we all have friends. Entwined in that we all want to incorporate our faith and love for Jesus, and for God. How ever is it possible when we feel like we are being pulled in every direction all of the time? Great question ! Every single day of my life includes thoughts of when I might be with my Lord for all eternity. No it's not a death wish, on the contrary it's a life wish. Today we call it Predestination. I'm really into the definition thing as you have all noticed, so let's see how the word predestination is defined:
Predestination (pre·des·ti·na·tion) 1. the act of predestinating : the state of being predestinated 2. the doctrine that God in consequence of his foreknowledge of all events infallibly guides those who are destined for salvation.
See why I like to fully understand the definitions of a word. Predestination is all about the foreknowledge, we already know the ending. We know Jesus wins this spiritual war on earth. We know that Jesus' death had purpose, we know that God loves us. We know so much about this entire experience of life already that no matter what gets thrown at us, we should be able to handle it. I didn't say we'd get to make the outcome be the way we want it. But by God's grace we will be able to manage our challenges more like Jesus would want us to, that's where Joy comes in again.
On a daily basis, I obviously spend time writing, and planning what I am going to write in each days blog, so those thoughts are always there. But I do far more than that. I think of all the wonderful tools we have that draw us close to our Lord and my heart literally skips a beat, further expanding the depths of my joy. It is so exciting thinking about how I can draw myself, and my life even closer to Him. Let's take the bible to start with. That book, those words, the scriptures, the stories, the parables, the people, the miracles, Jesus' words, they all come to life to me in my life. OMG I can go on and on just thinking about how much time I can and do spend in His word. God has given us a most precious part of His love in His word. Then think about the power of the Holy Spirit that Jesus has instilled in each of us. A piece of God through the power of the Holy Spirit indwells in us. And that part of us helps us stay even closer to Him. It's the greatest co-pilot anyone could ever wish they had in their lives. See how Joy thing comes to life for me. I pray that these blogs spark an overwhelming excitement inside your soul and heart, that you can't even contain it.
See what I am talking about everybody. Now you can see how I think about the bible and how much excitement and joy is jam packed in that wonderful book. See now you can learn of other books that generate similar joy in my life. I have a sorta mini library for personal reflection and spiritual growth that I use to guide me along the way, and help me with my research. Here they are: Catechism of the Catholic Church, St Jerome Commentary, Catch me a rainbow Too (SFO), My Daily Bread, Preparation for Death, Devotion to Mary, Teachings of the Catholic Church Volumes I&II, and so many others. I try to keep my life rich in learning as much as I can about my Lord, my relationship to Him, His relationship to us; and the more I keep learning the more exciting my life really is. We will continue tomorrow as we further reflect on this Joy inside my heart that I want you to experience, by learning how I keep His image in my mind and heart throughout the day.
Today's Challenge: Find new and creative ways you can make your life an instrument in sharing Jesus with others. Don't be afraid that your joy may overwhelm others, it's funny when I watch people react. If it does, share Jesus with excitement and love.
Your brother in Christ Jesus & His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr SFO
Monday, March 15, 2010
Joy - Endlessly Overflowing
Beads of Joy 03-15-10
Joy - Endlessly Overflowing
©2010 James Dacey, Jr. SFO
Lent 2010 - Day 27
Hello Everyone,
This week I am going to pull all of you into my inner circle of JOY. JOY first off is a blessing and without a doubt a gift from God. I know I keep talking about this JOY; I guess it's because I want so much for all of you to really have this JOY alive inside of your own hearts and lives. I get so excited and so thrilled so much with all the JOY I have inside me, that I shake my legs at times and many think I have these crazy nervous conditions. But please know, that I know they are not nerves, but the overwhelming excitement that is bottled up inside me. That's why I get goofy at times, just ask my kids, they say, "dad you are strange, you're always goofy happy". They see me act like a kid so much of the time. It's all because I have this very deep rooted relationship with God our Father and His Son and Our Blessed Mother; and knowing who they are in my life and that one day I will be with them, thrills me to death right now. This life is but a tiny spec of time in the full scope of time when you place eternity into the equation. This is nothing, all we have to do is stay true to God, share Him with everybody, bring as many as we possibly can to know Him, and be loyal to Him and in turn we shall spend all eternity with Him.
That was a powerful first paragraph, I wrote that straight off the cuff, no notes, just a sincere desire to share with you, the JOY I have inside my heart, my life and my soul. I had notes laid out for today's blog, I couldn't even follow them, I am letting the spirit lead right now. When I say that JOY is endlessly overflowing I really mean that. JOY is like an infinite eternity of Happiness all jammed up in the word JOY. Wow, I have no idea what I just typed, hope that made sense. LOL. I promise that within the next four days you will have a much clearer sense of what is going on inside my heart and soul and why I am overflowing with this JOY so much. Just yesterday when I was driving home from the Living Stations of The Cross rehearsal with my kids we talked about JOY. They were asking when these difficult times would pass, I told them we need to keep the faith, and all will pass. I then proceeded to tell them about how they to, need to capture the JOY I have, I also told them I know I sometimes strangely express it. LOL. They agreed, and said I do act weird at times.
You see my "weirdness" is just so HAPPY and so JOYFUL, that the world as a whole don't recognize it. So it interprets it as strange, but real true excitement that can't be contained, that can't be held down; that can't be kept to oneself ends up making the person so filled with this JOY seem weird. I personally don't care if I am not understood. But don't prejudge me till you at least, for truths sake, know what's the deal with me. LOL. Back in 1983 my entire world changed when Jesus became the reason for my living. There is no other reason to me that is so exciting. He is the only center, He is the reason for why we are here, He is the one person I would die for. JOY when it is pressed down and transformed by the spirit it makes your spirit so alive that you can't help but be a happy go lucky crazy person. I find that I will be bold in my words, not rude or mean. But I will not be intimidated by anyone seeking to belittle my faith. When I do meet those who are worldly and never intend to love Jesus, my heart is saddened. I don't argue, I listen and I make clear statements about who Jesus is to me, and I pray for them.
Endlessly Overflowing !! How is that even possible? Think of Jesus saying to you, "I have something for you, that I want you to keep in your heart, if you'd be willing to embrace me into your life.", and we in turn say "Absolutely Lord, I am willing." And then Jesus turns and gives us the entire universe filled with His love, and He says, "Take all of this and keep it close to your heart, I will be with you always." And we look at it in amazement and say, "Lord, it is so tremendous, so much, how ever could I possibly embrace, hold and take all of your love into my life?" And He says, "By accepting me into your life all this will be in your heart at all times, and all my love, and all my mercy, and all my joy and happiness will overflow from you, and when it does it will be a direct reflection of me." Now are you beginning to better understand the JOY that is jam packed up inside of me. Tomorrow we will continue these exciting thoughts of JOY.
Today's Challenge: Try being so excited, so thrilled, so ecstatic about Jesus, that your heart can longer contain all of it. So you then express it by telling others about Jesus. It is possible, just keep thinking about Him.
Your brother in Christ Jesus & His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr SFO
Joy - Endlessly Overflowing
©2010 James Dacey, Jr. SFO
Lent 2010 - Day 27
Hello Everyone,
This week I am going to pull all of you into my inner circle of JOY. JOY first off is a blessing and without a doubt a gift from God. I know I keep talking about this JOY; I guess it's because I want so much for all of you to really have this JOY alive inside of your own hearts and lives. I get so excited and so thrilled so much with all the JOY I have inside me, that I shake my legs at times and many think I have these crazy nervous conditions. But please know, that I know they are not nerves, but the overwhelming excitement that is bottled up inside me. That's why I get goofy at times, just ask my kids, they say, "dad you are strange, you're always goofy happy". They see me act like a kid so much of the time. It's all because I have this very deep rooted relationship with God our Father and His Son and Our Blessed Mother; and knowing who they are in my life and that one day I will be with them, thrills me to death right now. This life is but a tiny spec of time in the full scope of time when you place eternity into the equation. This is nothing, all we have to do is stay true to God, share Him with everybody, bring as many as we possibly can to know Him, and be loyal to Him and in turn we shall spend all eternity with Him.
That was a powerful first paragraph, I wrote that straight off the cuff, no notes, just a sincere desire to share with you, the JOY I have inside my heart, my life and my soul. I had notes laid out for today's blog, I couldn't even follow them, I am letting the spirit lead right now. When I say that JOY is endlessly overflowing I really mean that. JOY is like an infinite eternity of Happiness all jammed up in the word JOY. Wow, I have no idea what I just typed, hope that made sense. LOL. I promise that within the next four days you will have a much clearer sense of what is going on inside my heart and soul and why I am overflowing with this JOY so much. Just yesterday when I was driving home from the Living Stations of The Cross rehearsal with my kids we talked about JOY. They were asking when these difficult times would pass, I told them we need to keep the faith, and all will pass. I then proceeded to tell them about how they to, need to capture the JOY I have, I also told them I know I sometimes strangely express it. LOL. They agreed, and said I do act weird at times.
You see my "weirdness" is just so HAPPY and so JOYFUL, that the world as a whole don't recognize it. So it interprets it as strange, but real true excitement that can't be contained, that can't be held down; that can't be kept to oneself ends up making the person so filled with this JOY seem weird. I personally don't care if I am not understood. But don't prejudge me till you at least, for truths sake, know what's the deal with me. LOL. Back in 1983 my entire world changed when Jesus became the reason for my living. There is no other reason to me that is so exciting. He is the only center, He is the reason for why we are here, He is the one person I would die for. JOY when it is pressed down and transformed by the spirit it makes your spirit so alive that you can't help but be a happy go lucky crazy person. I find that I will be bold in my words, not rude or mean. But I will not be intimidated by anyone seeking to belittle my faith. When I do meet those who are worldly and never intend to love Jesus, my heart is saddened. I don't argue, I listen and I make clear statements about who Jesus is to me, and I pray for them.
Endlessly Overflowing !! How is that even possible? Think of Jesus saying to you, "I have something for you, that I want you to keep in your heart, if you'd be willing to embrace me into your life.", and we in turn say "Absolutely Lord, I am willing." And then Jesus turns and gives us the entire universe filled with His love, and He says, "Take all of this and keep it close to your heart, I will be with you always." And we look at it in amazement and say, "Lord, it is so tremendous, so much, how ever could I possibly embrace, hold and take all of your love into my life?" And He says, "By accepting me into your life all this will be in your heart at all times, and all my love, and all my mercy, and all my joy and happiness will overflow from you, and when it does it will be a direct reflection of me." Now are you beginning to better understand the JOY that is jam packed up inside of me. Tomorrow we will continue these exciting thoughts of JOY.
Today's Challenge: Try being so excited, so thrilled, so ecstatic about Jesus, that your heart can longer contain all of it. So you then express it by telling others about Jesus. It is possible, just keep thinking about Him.
Your brother in Christ Jesus & His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr SFO
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Father, I Have Sinned
Beads of Joy 03-14-10
Father, I Have Sinned
©2010 James Dacey, Jr. SFO
Lent 2010 - Day 26
Hello Everyone,
Here we are today celebrating the 4th Sunday in Lent; a most joyous and exciting time as Lent continues to move us closer to Easter. Today's gospel is yet another parable, how lucky is that, to have 2 parables, two days in a row. Today we are reading Luke 15:1-3, 11-32 (The Parable of the Prodigal Son), a well known parable, one that shares so much wisdom and insight. Today we will touch on the joy that hear about in the fathers words. Like I had mentioned last week, this is a week that we will focus on Joy as our theme leading up the Solemnity of St. Joseph on Friday. Let us begin by defining the word "prodigal".
Prodigal (prod·i·gal): 1. characterized by wasteful expenditure: lavish 2. recklessly spendthrift
Now that is right to the point, key words I see that well represent the younger son in this parable are: wasteful and recklessly. The younger son boldly rejected his family, his home and even his father. All he wanted was what he felt was owed to him, as if his father was dead. The younger son was rudely beyond, what I think anyone in today's time would ever tolerate. But clearly at that time he was entitled by law to his share; but because his father was alive when he made his demand, he had no right.
There are two statements made by the younger son to his father that stand out to me in this parable, and they are: "Give me" and "Make me". The "Give me" is a demand by the son, and the "Make me" is a request, a plea. These two statements are on complete opposite of the spectrum of thought. When the younger son wanted his money and wanted to selfishly go do what he wanted with it, he had to be arrogant about it. I can't how it can be thought of in any other way. How can someone go up to a parent, demand their inheritance, take it, and leave. It had to be a very cold experience for the father. And then when you read about what the son did and how he came to his senses; that arrogance that he once had was gone, he was humbled by his stupidity of choices he made. So he thought, "make me like one of your hired men" v.19. To me I see him thinking that all the security and love he once had was lost; and all he can do is be in the presence of his father and to be with those who serve him, he will be fine. He knew by what he had done with the way he treated his father, that he didn't even deserve that.
This parable is understandable so popular because of the parallel that is so easily noted here. We are in essence the prodigal son in many ways and the father is God our Father. The older son can be thought of as satan, or those who aren't happy about our faith and who feel we are unworthy of the love, forgiveness and mercy that God gives us. See how powerful this parable is. Jesus is plainly telling us that no matter how we treat Him, no matter how rude, how arrogant and mean we are; God forgives, embraces and celebrates the moment we return to Him. The younger sons father was ecstatically filled with so much joy seeing his son return home. Fr. Mullally's homily today pointed out a very important insight about happiness and joy: "Happiness exists but goes, Joy stays." That's the joy I keep telling all of you that I have inside my heart, and endless, overflowing, over abundant amount of joy. Jesus wants so much for us to experience that joy, he wants us to know how wonderfully splendid it feels having His love deep inside our hearts 24/7/365.
What can we do? How can we gain by such a wonderful teaching? I don't know where to begin. We can really dissect this parable and if we really are honest and open to all aspects of it; we might be able to see how we maybe at some point in our lives played the role of all these people in this parable. Let's see what I mean: The Father (can be someone openly accepting loving someone who has hurt or offended them). The Son (can be anyone who has openly rejected Jesus, or God or someone they love). The Older Son (can be someone who criticizes the kindness and mercy of another). But today we will look at the JOY, the father has for his lost son who has returned to him. Let me say something about Joy, it is without a doubt the most powerful, everlasting blessing anyone could ever receive. I see it in my life as a gift, one that has been given to me, and with it, I must share and spread it to everyone. Let's look at the definition to the word: joy.
JOY (joi) 1. a. the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires : delight b : the expression or exhibition of such emotion: gaiety 2. a state of happiness or felicity: bliss 3. a source or cause of delight.
Today's Challenge: Open your heart today to someone who has hurt you, offended you, or outright closed you out. Maybe send a note, make a call, give a hug. Don't ask for anything from them, instead; give them your love, allow your joy to overflow into their lives.
Your brother in Christ Jesus & His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr SFO
Father, I Have Sinned
©2010 James Dacey, Jr. SFO
Lent 2010 - Day 26
Hello Everyone,
Here we are today celebrating the 4th Sunday in Lent; a most joyous and exciting time as Lent continues to move us closer to Easter. Today's gospel is yet another parable, how lucky is that, to have 2 parables, two days in a row. Today we are reading Luke 15:1-3, 11-32 (The Parable of the Prodigal Son), a well known parable, one that shares so much wisdom and insight. Today we will touch on the joy that hear about in the fathers words. Like I had mentioned last week, this is a week that we will focus on Joy as our theme leading up the Solemnity of St. Joseph on Friday. Let us begin by defining the word "prodigal".
Prodigal (prod·i·gal): 1. characterized by wasteful expenditure: lavish 2. recklessly spendthrift
Now that is right to the point, key words I see that well represent the younger son in this parable are: wasteful and recklessly. The younger son boldly rejected his family, his home and even his father. All he wanted was what he felt was owed to him, as if his father was dead. The younger son was rudely beyond, what I think anyone in today's time would ever tolerate. But clearly at that time he was entitled by law to his share; but because his father was alive when he made his demand, he had no right.
There are two statements made by the younger son to his father that stand out to me in this parable, and they are: "Give me" and "Make me". The "Give me" is a demand by the son, and the "Make me" is a request, a plea. These two statements are on complete opposite of the spectrum of thought. When the younger son wanted his money and wanted to selfishly go do what he wanted with it, he had to be arrogant about it. I can't how it can be thought of in any other way. How can someone go up to a parent, demand their inheritance, take it, and leave. It had to be a very cold experience for the father. And then when you read about what the son did and how he came to his senses; that arrogance that he once had was gone, he was humbled by his stupidity of choices he made. So he thought, "make me like one of your hired men" v.19. To me I see him thinking that all the security and love he once had was lost; and all he can do is be in the presence of his father and to be with those who serve him, he will be fine. He knew by what he had done with the way he treated his father, that he didn't even deserve that.
This parable is understandable so popular because of the parallel that is so easily noted here. We are in essence the prodigal son in many ways and the father is God our Father. The older son can be thought of as satan, or those who aren't happy about our faith and who feel we are unworthy of the love, forgiveness and mercy that God gives us. See how powerful this parable is. Jesus is plainly telling us that no matter how we treat Him, no matter how rude, how arrogant and mean we are; God forgives, embraces and celebrates the moment we return to Him. The younger sons father was ecstatically filled with so much joy seeing his son return home. Fr. Mullally's homily today pointed out a very important insight about happiness and joy: "Happiness exists but goes, Joy stays." That's the joy I keep telling all of you that I have inside my heart, and endless, overflowing, over abundant amount of joy. Jesus wants so much for us to experience that joy, he wants us to know how wonderfully splendid it feels having His love deep inside our hearts 24/7/365.
What can we do? How can we gain by such a wonderful teaching? I don't know where to begin. We can really dissect this parable and if we really are honest and open to all aspects of it; we might be able to see how we maybe at some point in our lives played the role of all these people in this parable. Let's see what I mean: The Father (can be someone openly accepting loving someone who has hurt or offended them). The Son (can be anyone who has openly rejected Jesus, or God or someone they love). The Older Son (can be someone who criticizes the kindness and mercy of another). But today we will look at the JOY, the father has for his lost son who has returned to him. Let me say something about Joy, it is without a doubt the most powerful, everlasting blessing anyone could ever receive. I see it in my life as a gift, one that has been given to me, and with it, I must share and spread it to everyone. Let's look at the definition to the word: joy.
JOY (joi) 1. a. the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires : delight b : the expression or exhibition of such emotion: gaiety 2. a state of happiness or felicity: bliss 3. a source or cause of delight.
Today's Challenge: Open your heart today to someone who has hurt you, offended you, or outright closed you out. Maybe send a note, make a call, give a hug. Don't ask for anything from them, instead; give them your love, allow your joy to overflow into their lives.
Your brother in Christ Jesus & His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr SFO
Saturday, March 13, 2010
O God, Be Merciful To Me
Beads of Joy 03-13-10
O God, Be Merciful To Me
©2010 James Dacey, Jr. SFO
Lent 2010 - Day 25
Hello Everyone,
Praise you Jesus, for sharing the exciting joy and wisdom you capture in your parables. My favorite studies and the most joy I have when studying scripture is when I come upon a parable. These gems of wisdom are so exciting, I see a parable with an infinite amount of wisdom that changes with us, depending on where we are in our lives. Today we are reading Luke 18:9-14 (The Parable of the Pharisee and The Tax Collector). The beauty of a parable is that we can see it in different ways at different times. Take for instance a tree ! Yes I said a tree, there are times the leaves catch our eyes, maybe it's their colors or their size; other times we notice the branches and maybe how bold or thick they are; and still other times we see the roots, because they are out of the ground and they are huge and beautiful. I can go on and on, just with the tree example, you see what I mean. And in the end, it's still the same tree.
These two men both went to pray before God; and they both came from two completely different classes of people. Yet in God's eyes they are equal to Him. It is the character and words used by each of them that changes the depths of their our sinfulness. The big changer here is how they viewed themselves before God. The Pharisee was arrogant and selfish, while being very judgmental about the tax collector. Yet the tax collector, was very humble and ashamed; never pointing a finger of judgment at anyone except himself. We can learn so much from this parable. Fr Larry Richards once said, "Jesus Christ commanded us to love, but He Forbid us !, He Forbid us !, He Forbid us ! to judge." He was very clear when he expressed that to us. We must never ever judge anyone for anything. I will be the first to confess before everyone here that I indeed judge, when it comes to politicians and politics. Right here and right now I beg my Lord for His forgiveness for that, as I ask my brothers and sisters to also forgive my arrogance and anger that I share about politics. I promise I will in the future, I will try my best to tame it down and be much more kinder in my words. Please feel free to yell at me if I drift, seriously. Thank you !!
In this parable, the Pharisees quickly assumed and judged the tax collector, who was with him; while what appears to be the Pharisee praying to himself. He seemed to be so consumed in his own pride and how he wanted God to perceive him; that lashing out at the tax collector in his words to God made him feel good about himself. This Pharisee used many words, in a most self righteous way. While the tax collector bowed his head in shame, not even feeling worthy before God to even speak. The tax collector knew his sin separated himself from God; his humility and guilt showed God how sorry he was for his sins. We have a merciful, loving God, a God who by His own words created all things; a God who clearly tells us that our sins separate us from Him. We must be humble, and aware of our own offenses towards God. Let us keep this scripture in mind when we judge others, "You, then, why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For we will all stand before God's judgment seat. It is written: 'As surely as I live,' says the Lord, every knee will bow before me; every tongue will confess to God.' "So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God." Romans 14:10-12.
What can we do? How can we integrate this lesson into our own lives? For starters let us understand the seriousness of our sins and how sin is really offensive to God. We must remember God created mankind to love Him and our neighbor before anything. Adam and Eve found independence in their own free will, and in doing so; they created a wall of shame by putting sin between man and woman and between mankind and God. So through God's love for us, he had to defeat death brought upon us by our sins, by sacrificing His only Son. "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. So Jesus took the heat, and suffered the death penalty for all of us. He died for our sins. "He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed." 1 Peter 2:24. Our sins are a direct offense and in some ways a deliberate offense against the very blood Jesus has shed. We need to keep that in mind every single time we knowingly sin. The worst sin of all, is that while we know in full knowledge it's sin, we still in complete consent of the will, sin anyway. How horrible and serious that truly is. Let us always ask for forgiveness, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:9.
Today's Challenge: Let us learn this. Approach God with our head held down not up. Pride and arrogance does nothing for our confession, only shame and humility knowing we are unworthy.
Your brother in Christ Jesus & His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr SFO
O God, Be Merciful To Me
©2010 James Dacey, Jr. SFO
Lent 2010 - Day 25
Hello Everyone,
Praise you Jesus, for sharing the exciting joy and wisdom you capture in your parables. My favorite studies and the most joy I have when studying scripture is when I come upon a parable. These gems of wisdom are so exciting, I see a parable with an infinite amount of wisdom that changes with us, depending on where we are in our lives. Today we are reading Luke 18:9-14 (The Parable of the Pharisee and The Tax Collector). The beauty of a parable is that we can see it in different ways at different times. Take for instance a tree ! Yes I said a tree, there are times the leaves catch our eyes, maybe it's their colors or their size; other times we notice the branches and maybe how bold or thick they are; and still other times we see the roots, because they are out of the ground and they are huge and beautiful. I can go on and on, just with the tree example, you see what I mean. And in the end, it's still the same tree.
These two men both went to pray before God; and they both came from two completely different classes of people. Yet in God's eyes they are equal to Him. It is the character and words used by each of them that changes the depths of their our sinfulness. The big changer here is how they viewed themselves before God. The Pharisee was arrogant and selfish, while being very judgmental about the tax collector. Yet the tax collector, was very humble and ashamed; never pointing a finger of judgment at anyone except himself. We can learn so much from this parable. Fr Larry Richards once said, "Jesus Christ commanded us to love, but He Forbid us !, He Forbid us !, He Forbid us ! to judge." He was very clear when he expressed that to us. We must never ever judge anyone for anything. I will be the first to confess before everyone here that I indeed judge, when it comes to politicians and politics. Right here and right now I beg my Lord for His forgiveness for that, as I ask my brothers and sisters to also forgive my arrogance and anger that I share about politics. I promise I will in the future, I will try my best to tame it down and be much more kinder in my words. Please feel free to yell at me if I drift, seriously. Thank you !!
In this parable, the Pharisees quickly assumed and judged the tax collector, who was with him; while what appears to be the Pharisee praying to himself. He seemed to be so consumed in his own pride and how he wanted God to perceive him; that lashing out at the tax collector in his words to God made him feel good about himself. This Pharisee used many words, in a most self righteous way. While the tax collector bowed his head in shame, not even feeling worthy before God to even speak. The tax collector knew his sin separated himself from God; his humility and guilt showed God how sorry he was for his sins. We have a merciful, loving God, a God who by His own words created all things; a God who clearly tells us that our sins separate us from Him. We must be humble, and aware of our own offenses towards God. Let us keep this scripture in mind when we judge others, "You, then, why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For we will all stand before God's judgment seat. It is written: 'As surely as I live,' says the Lord, every knee will bow before me; every tongue will confess to God.' "So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God." Romans 14:10-12.
What can we do? How can we integrate this lesson into our own lives? For starters let us understand the seriousness of our sins and how sin is really offensive to God. We must remember God created mankind to love Him and our neighbor before anything. Adam and Eve found independence in their own free will, and in doing so; they created a wall of shame by putting sin between man and woman and between mankind and God. So through God's love for us, he had to defeat death brought upon us by our sins, by sacrificing His only Son. "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. So Jesus took the heat, and suffered the death penalty for all of us. He died for our sins. "He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed." 1 Peter 2:24. Our sins are a direct offense and in some ways a deliberate offense against the very blood Jesus has shed. We need to keep that in mind every single time we knowingly sin. The worst sin of all, is that while we know in full knowledge it's sin, we still in complete consent of the will, sin anyway. How horrible and serious that truly is. Let us always ask for forgiveness, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:9.
Today's Challenge: Let us learn this. Approach God with our head held down not up. Pride and arrogance does nothing for our confession, only shame and humility knowing we are unworthy.
Your brother in Christ Jesus & His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr SFO
Friday, March 12, 2010
We Must Die Detesting Sin
Beads of Joy 03-12-10
We Must Die Detesting Sin
©2010 James Dacey, Jr. SFO
Lent 2010 - Day 24
Hello Everyone,
Our eternity depends on how we live our life. We really need to live each day focused on the end of this life. "A good name is better than fine perfume, and the day of death better than the day of birth. It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of every man; the living should take this to heart." Ecclesiastes 7:1-2, wow, so much wisdom jam packed in those two verses. Everything in between matters, the only thing is that we really don't know how or when the end will come. See once we are dead, it is at that exact moment that it's going to be too late to make things right with God, and make things right with our neighbors. The best way to really see what I think God wants us to is this, here's my analogy: Think of ourselves as an athlete. And at some point in the near future we need to be ready for a big challenge to test our skill (our faith). What would be the best way to prepare for this? Should we wait for the day, and that moment, and then prepare? Of cause not, staying in shape (spiritually) is something we must do all the time so we can remain ready.
Just as an athlete continually prepares oneself for that main event, or the Olympics; we to must always be prepared for the day we to will all face. The day we as children of God, must stand before Him and in that finally phase of our life, so be ready. "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father." Matthew 24:36. also, "You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him." Luke 12:40. Our lives must be surrounded by the tools (bible, commentary, devotional books, etc), and the coaches (priests, brothers and sisters in the Lord), so that we to can remain on track as we remain prepared. Here is a very insightful thought as we prepare, "The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life." Galatians 6:8, we do sow what we reap. The thought of our end here on earth is a gift (predestination) we need to embrace, as we go through each day we have been so blessed to have.
While we are on this journey, a journey we call life; let's try not to risk our eternity by falling pray to the enemy (satan). The enemy is most deceitful and very patient; remember the enemy never sleeps, he will woo our hearts and our interests and before we know it, he will devour us. So let us die to self first and foremost. "Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." 1 Peter 5:8. The best way to avoid all that could mislead us in our life, is by living a life that places Jesus and others first. "Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself." Matthew 22:37-39. Following those commandments is the best weapon against the enemy. The enemies greatest tool against ourselves is our our own pride and selfish desires. Frequently attend Mass, spend time before the sacrament, go to confession as often as possible. Be prepared.
We all need to take account of our own lives; are we really attached to anything at all on this earth? Is there a person; a place of honor we desire to be; a home we love so much more than anything else in the world; or maybe this life is all about our desire for wealth, or is it our own personal addictions that capture us. Satan uses all these things to keep us from God. One thing is certain, and you didn't need to read this blog to know it: we are not immortal in the physical sense. We will all have to leave this place one day, I find it to be easy to be detached from this world as much as possible; that maybe one of the biggest secrets to my own personal endless overflowing joy. Maybe because I am able to live with "no strings attached" that my spirit feels so free and excited everyday, thinking about and worshiping God with all I got. I could be wrong, but you know the more I see it that way, the more it makes sense.
Today's Challenge: Help someone else on this journey you are embarking. Encourage others to go with you to Mass, and to Eucharistic Adoration and to confession. Share Jesus, share the one treasure you possess in your heart with everyone.
Your brother in Christ Jesus & His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr SFO
We Must Die Detesting Sin
©2010 James Dacey, Jr. SFO
Lent 2010 - Day 24
Hello Everyone,
Our eternity depends on how we live our life. We really need to live each day focused on the end of this life. "A good name is better than fine perfume, and the day of death better than the day of birth. It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of every man; the living should take this to heart." Ecclesiastes 7:1-2, wow, so much wisdom jam packed in those two verses. Everything in between matters, the only thing is that we really don't know how or when the end will come. See once we are dead, it is at that exact moment that it's going to be too late to make things right with God, and make things right with our neighbors. The best way to really see what I think God wants us to is this, here's my analogy: Think of ourselves as an athlete. And at some point in the near future we need to be ready for a big challenge to test our skill (our faith). What would be the best way to prepare for this? Should we wait for the day, and that moment, and then prepare? Of cause not, staying in shape (spiritually) is something we must do all the time so we can remain ready.
Just as an athlete continually prepares oneself for that main event, or the Olympics; we to must always be prepared for the day we to will all face. The day we as children of God, must stand before Him and in that finally phase of our life, so be ready. "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father." Matthew 24:36. also, "You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him." Luke 12:40. Our lives must be surrounded by the tools (bible, commentary, devotional books, etc), and the coaches (priests, brothers and sisters in the Lord), so that we to can remain on track as we remain prepared. Here is a very insightful thought as we prepare, "The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life." Galatians 6:8, we do sow what we reap. The thought of our end here on earth is a gift (predestination) we need to embrace, as we go through each day we have been so blessed to have.
While we are on this journey, a journey we call life; let's try not to risk our eternity by falling pray to the enemy (satan). The enemy is most deceitful and very patient; remember the enemy never sleeps, he will woo our hearts and our interests and before we know it, he will devour us. So let us die to self first and foremost. "Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." 1 Peter 5:8. The best way to avoid all that could mislead us in our life, is by living a life that places Jesus and others first. "Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself." Matthew 22:37-39. Following those commandments is the best weapon against the enemy. The enemies greatest tool against ourselves is our our own pride and selfish desires. Frequently attend Mass, spend time before the sacrament, go to confession as often as possible. Be prepared.
We all need to take account of our own lives; are we really attached to anything at all on this earth? Is there a person; a place of honor we desire to be; a home we love so much more than anything else in the world; or maybe this life is all about our desire for wealth, or is it our own personal addictions that capture us. Satan uses all these things to keep us from God. One thing is certain, and you didn't need to read this blog to know it: we are not immortal in the physical sense. We will all have to leave this place one day, I find it to be easy to be detached from this world as much as possible; that maybe one of the biggest secrets to my own personal endless overflowing joy. Maybe because I am able to live with "no strings attached" that my spirit feels so free and excited everyday, thinking about and worshiping God with all I got. I could be wrong, but you know the more I see it that way, the more it makes sense.
Today's Challenge: Help someone else on this journey you are embarking. Encourage others to go with you to Mass, and to Eucharistic Adoration and to confession. Share Jesus, share the one treasure you possess in your heart with everyone.
Your brother in Christ Jesus & His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr SFO
Thursday, March 11, 2010
My Confession of The Stomach
Beads of Joy 03-11-10
My Confession of The Stomach
©2010 James Dacey, Jr. SFO
Lent 2010 - Day 23
Hello Everyone,
Yes, you read it correctly. I have a very bad habit, most people who really know me, know just what it is. It's eating !!!, HEY what were you thinking? LOL. I confess I love food. I really really really really do, and I will make this very bold statement, I find eating food to be even more pleasurable than.... ah ah ah, yes I was going to say that S-word. Anyhow, I am just being honest, and strange and goofy, just taking a break from everything, to make y'all laugh. There's just something so incredible about food, and just like the S-word, once fully content sleep does follow. LOL. This is a real confession everybody, I'm not making any of this up. I love food, I love shopping for it, I love cooking it, and then I absolutely love eating it. And I'm not your typical eater, I can easily sit down and eat 1-2 pounds of any pasta, an entire pie, large bag of vegetables, bag of french fries, one or two boxes of cookies (as I am doing while I type this. lol). I don't know if there is a cure for this, but then I honestly don't believe in my heart, opps I mean my stomach that I want to. This habit, just like I spoke about yesterday has entangled itself in my life. I see it as harmless, I don't think its hurting anyone else, I guess if I start eating off my kids plates... LOL anyhow, see what I mean.
Sin of all sorts blind us, but let's be honest, Gluttony is a sin, and not just any sin, it's a deadly one. In the weeks to come I will write all about that. Today I am at the mercy of my friends, asking them to send me lots of homemade chocolate chip cookies, I LOVE HOMEMADE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES. LOL. See I can't help myself, I love food. I think I said that a couple times already here, but I can't help it. Right now I am eating soft peanut butter cookies, they really taste so good. OMG, they taste awesome. LOL. Am I getting a little weird on y'all ? It's the food, it's the cookies, it's the cake, it's the pies, OMG do I love pies (pumpkin and apple and coconut and pecan). Now I am getting hungry. Hey stop laughing at me, it's true, I may have to go get some frozen pies and start cooking them. Oh my, when they are fresh out of the oven do I love them.
So tell me, what you having for breakfast, lunch and dinner today ? I love talking about food, cooking techniques, recipes. You know my wife and my kids and my parents, my co-workers, close friends and ok, well I guess most people I spent lots of time with all have one thing in common with what they say to me. "All you do is eat, whenever I see you, you're eating" LOL. Ok, I will admit they are right, but I have a very brilliant response, I usually first say, NO. Followed by, "I only eat one meal a day", and they usually are just as quick witted as I am and say, "What one meal that last all day?". And I go YES !!! YES !!! I love food. Whoever invented food needs to receive an award, it is the most incredible invention since individually wrapped ice cream cones, I can eat a box of them at once. LOL. Ok all things lead to food, many comparisons I make on a daily basis in conversation revolve around food. I am trying to control myself, but all I am thinking about as I type are these cookies, wait I am eating them; I am actually thinking about what I am going to make for breakfast this morning. LOL
I am not going to Food Eaters Anonymous, I have nothing to hide, no need to be anonymous. I want everybody to know so they can send me homemade chocolate chip cookies. LOL. Hopefully at those meeting we are allowed to bring a covered dish, they must have coffee and snack after wards. LOL, I am so sorry, this blogs intention from the start has been to allow you into my life, ok my kitchen. LOL. Just hoping to bring you all some laughter, and huge smiles you can't get off your face, for the rest of the day, just at the very thought of food, because of me. And sharing a pie would be fun, I'll bring the cookies and the pie. LOL. This was a really fun blog. See all this time I have been in the closet about this, ok the kitchen cabinet/closet. And now I am out about it. I feel so refreshed and new and... yes very very hungry. LOL
Today's Challenge: Share your food with Jimmy. LOL, psst, his favorite is all kinds of pasta, and homemade chocolate chip cookies. LOL, make sure there's enough, he can eat 1-2 pounds himself in one sitting.
Your brother in Christ Jesus & His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr SFO
My Confession of The Stomach
©2010 James Dacey, Jr. SFO
Lent 2010 - Day 23
Hello Everyone,
Yes, you read it correctly. I have a very bad habit, most people who really know me, know just what it is. It's eating !!!, HEY what were you thinking? LOL. I confess I love food. I really really really really do, and I will make this very bold statement, I find eating food to be even more pleasurable than.... ah ah ah, yes I was going to say that S-word. Anyhow, I am just being honest, and strange and goofy, just taking a break from everything, to make y'all laugh. There's just something so incredible about food, and just like the S-word, once fully content sleep does follow. LOL. This is a real confession everybody, I'm not making any of this up. I love food, I love shopping for it, I love cooking it, and then I absolutely love eating it. And I'm not your typical eater, I can easily sit down and eat 1-2 pounds of any pasta, an entire pie, large bag of vegetables, bag of french fries, one or two boxes of cookies (as I am doing while I type this. lol). I don't know if there is a cure for this, but then I honestly don't believe in my heart, opps I mean my stomach that I want to. This habit, just like I spoke about yesterday has entangled itself in my life. I see it as harmless, I don't think its hurting anyone else, I guess if I start eating off my kids plates... LOL anyhow, see what I mean.
Sin of all sorts blind us, but let's be honest, Gluttony is a sin, and not just any sin, it's a deadly one. In the weeks to come I will write all about that. Today I am at the mercy of my friends, asking them to send me lots of homemade chocolate chip cookies, I LOVE HOMEMADE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES. LOL. See I can't help myself, I love food. I think I said that a couple times already here, but I can't help it. Right now I am eating soft peanut butter cookies, they really taste so good. OMG, they taste awesome. LOL. Am I getting a little weird on y'all ? It's the food, it's the cookies, it's the cake, it's the pies, OMG do I love pies (pumpkin and apple and coconut and pecan). Now I am getting hungry. Hey stop laughing at me, it's true, I may have to go get some frozen pies and start cooking them. Oh my, when they are fresh out of the oven do I love them.
So tell me, what you having for breakfast, lunch and dinner today ? I love talking about food, cooking techniques, recipes. You know my wife and my kids and my parents, my co-workers, close friends and ok, well I guess most people I spent lots of time with all have one thing in common with what they say to me. "All you do is eat, whenever I see you, you're eating" LOL. Ok, I will admit they are right, but I have a very brilliant response, I usually first say, NO. Followed by, "I only eat one meal a day", and they usually are just as quick witted as I am and say, "What one meal that last all day?". And I go YES !!! YES !!! I love food. Whoever invented food needs to receive an award, it is the most incredible invention since individually wrapped ice cream cones, I can eat a box of them at once. LOL. Ok all things lead to food, many comparisons I make on a daily basis in conversation revolve around food. I am trying to control myself, but all I am thinking about as I type are these cookies, wait I am eating them; I am actually thinking about what I am going to make for breakfast this morning. LOL
I am not going to Food Eaters Anonymous, I have nothing to hide, no need to be anonymous. I want everybody to know so they can send me homemade chocolate chip cookies. LOL. Hopefully at those meeting we are allowed to bring a covered dish, they must have coffee and snack after wards. LOL, I am so sorry, this blogs intention from the start has been to allow you into my life, ok my kitchen. LOL. Just hoping to bring you all some laughter, and huge smiles you can't get off your face, for the rest of the day, just at the very thought of food, because of me. And sharing a pie would be fun, I'll bring the cookies and the pie. LOL. This was a really fun blog. See all this time I have been in the closet about this, ok the kitchen cabinet/closet. And now I am out about it. I feel so refreshed and new and... yes very very hungry. LOL
Today's Challenge: Share your food with Jimmy. LOL, psst, his favorite is all kinds of pasta, and homemade chocolate chip cookies. LOL, make sure there's enough, he can eat 1-2 pounds himself in one sitting.
Your brother in Christ Jesus & His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr SFO
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
The Habit of Sin Blinds Us
Beads of Joy 03-10-10
The Habit of Sin Blinds Us
©2010 James Dacey, Jr. SFO
Lent 2010 - Day 22
Hello Everyone,
It is indeed so difficult for us to conquer such a habit. Of all the habits mankind has encountered, (smoking, eating, nail biting, chocolate, m&m's) "sin" in and of itself because it covers so many parts of who we are, it is impossible to complete avoid this habit. We are unfortunately infected by something called concupiscence. I have spoken of this before in other blogs. Concupiscence is kinda like that person you stop and ask directions from, you listen, think all is good and you proceed forward, and before you know you are going completely in the wrong direction. Life is like that, we are always looking for the "right" direction to be moving, and unfortunately because the father of sin (satan); he is deceitful and misleading and never rests or sleeps; he presents the wrong direction in a nice friendly way. That misrepresentation along with the blindness we attain from our sin, we find ourselves falling back into sin time and time again.
We all experience those one or two sins we just seem to never be able to get away from. You know what I am talking about, that one sin that if you can only stop it, you would never do it again and you'd be even more faithful in all things. I think we have all been there. We find ourselves just like this, "We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good." Romans 7:14-16, Ah see, we are not the only ones struggling with trying to defeat that which we hate to do. We must not give up in this struggle of defeating the habit, the stakes are too high. We must try to break that bond our enemy (satan) has entangled into our lives and do our best to rid our lives of such vices. St. Bernardine of Sienna once said, "Entangled by a habit, they are bound by the enemy; and though flying, they are cast down into the same vices."
These undesirable habits become a part of our nature to some degree at times. We really need to keep watch over the very habits we have developed. Sometimes anger pushes into a certain sin, or certain kinds of movies or the way we see others dressed. Not everyone is strong is there testimony and focus on Jesus. And our lack of attentiveness of these bad habits only hinder us and drag us back into them, most of the time unknowingly, but unfortunately often times willingly. I hear many talks about this through the years. And it's been pointed out that everyone to some degree deals with this. Our weakness could be anger, or judging others, or pride, or lust, or selfishness. That's a mere speck of what many of us deal with. And we do know that just because we don't advertise our sin on cable or the internet God is well aware of our heart. "He said to them, "You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men is detestable in God's sight." Luke 16:15, now that's a thought.
Let's not wallow in our sin and think oh pity on me. Instead let's do all we can to conquer these habits. I agree that sometimes even that is impossible, but how about looking at it this way; let's do all we can to lessen them and stop them dead in their tracks as much as we possibly can. That can be the new habit of defeating the one habit of sin that has venom that goes directly to our soul. Our best defense is going to be a good offense, and that offense is frequent confession. I will continue to speak frequently of this throughout Lent. This is the perfect time to get our hearts and soul clean before God. God knows we want to, let's use this time to show our sincerity and go to confession as often as time will allow. Think of it as a car wash for your soul.
Today's Challenge: Keep a log, of your habits. Every time you feel yourself going down that road of sin, write down what happened just before that. Was it an argument, was it anger, was it someone? You'll be creative, then you will know when and how to stop. I'm praying for all of you.
Your brother in Christ Jesus & His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr SFO
The Habit of Sin Blinds Us
©2010 James Dacey, Jr. SFO
Lent 2010 - Day 22
Hello Everyone,
It is indeed so difficult for us to conquer such a habit. Of all the habits mankind has encountered, (smoking, eating, nail biting, chocolate, m&m's) "sin" in and of itself because it covers so many parts of who we are, it is impossible to complete avoid this habit. We are unfortunately infected by something called concupiscence. I have spoken of this before in other blogs. Concupiscence is kinda like that person you stop and ask directions from, you listen, think all is good and you proceed forward, and before you know you are going completely in the wrong direction. Life is like that, we are always looking for the "right" direction to be moving, and unfortunately because the father of sin (satan); he is deceitful and misleading and never rests or sleeps; he presents the wrong direction in a nice friendly way. That misrepresentation along with the blindness we attain from our sin, we find ourselves falling back into sin time and time again.
We all experience those one or two sins we just seem to never be able to get away from. You know what I am talking about, that one sin that if you can only stop it, you would never do it again and you'd be even more faithful in all things. I think we have all been there. We find ourselves just like this, "We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good." Romans 7:14-16, Ah see, we are not the only ones struggling with trying to defeat that which we hate to do. We must not give up in this struggle of defeating the habit, the stakes are too high. We must try to break that bond our enemy (satan) has entangled into our lives and do our best to rid our lives of such vices. St. Bernardine of Sienna once said, "Entangled by a habit, they are bound by the enemy; and though flying, they are cast down into the same vices."
These undesirable habits become a part of our nature to some degree at times. We really need to keep watch over the very habits we have developed. Sometimes anger pushes into a certain sin, or certain kinds of movies or the way we see others dressed. Not everyone is strong is there testimony and focus on Jesus. And our lack of attentiveness of these bad habits only hinder us and drag us back into them, most of the time unknowingly, but unfortunately often times willingly. I hear many talks about this through the years. And it's been pointed out that everyone to some degree deals with this. Our weakness could be anger, or judging others, or pride, or lust, or selfishness. That's a mere speck of what many of us deal with. And we do know that just because we don't advertise our sin on cable or the internet God is well aware of our heart. "He said to them, "You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men is detestable in God's sight." Luke 16:15, now that's a thought.
Let's not wallow in our sin and think oh pity on me. Instead let's do all we can to conquer these habits. I agree that sometimes even that is impossible, but how about looking at it this way; let's do all we can to lessen them and stop them dead in their tracks as much as we possibly can. That can be the new habit of defeating the one habit of sin that has venom that goes directly to our soul. Our best defense is going to be a good offense, and that offense is frequent confession. I will continue to speak frequently of this throughout Lent. This is the perfect time to get our hearts and soul clean before God. God knows we want to, let's use this time to show our sincerity and go to confession as often as time will allow. Think of it as a car wash for your soul.
Today's Challenge: Keep a log, of your habits. Every time you feel yourself going down that road of sin, write down what happened just before that. Was it an argument, was it anger, was it someone? You'll be creative, then you will know when and how to stop. I'm praying for all of you.
Your brother in Christ Jesus & His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr SFO
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Never Fear Death In This Life
Beads of Joy 03-09-10
Never Fear Death In This Life
©2010 James Dacey, Jr. SFO
Lent 2010 - Day 21
Hello Everyone,
What is death? It is the burying of the mortal body into the ground and a releasing of the immortal soul into eternal life. No one can escape the claws of death, all of us will one day experience it. So knowing that we should be able to conquer the fear we may have of this, dying is a natural part of living. Yes it is sad, it can be horrible depending on how we might die, but instantaneously upon the moment it occurs, our lives are forever eternally changed. This is the one time we can and will be completely be separated from this world. But with that knowledge we have such wisdom to gain. That tells us that what happens here is temporal, and what happens here will greatly affect where we will go for all eternity. Some may ask, "Do you have a death wish? talking so boldly about death like it's nothing." The only wish I have is that at my death, that I get to be with Jesus in Heaven for all eternity. For what other purpose of preparation do we have while we are here? We have an infinite amount of interactions in our lives, all of which can and could directly affect our eternal outcome.
Now do want to take a chance and risk all eternity for the pleasures of this world? That was a rhetorical question. I would hope that knowing the high stakes that are on the table that one wouldn't want to risk losing it all. "Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death that is, the devil and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham's descendants." Hebrews 2:14-16. We are all Abraham's descendants. The power of death is gone, it no longer hangs over us keeping us a prisoner unto it. Look at what St. Lawrence Justinian said, "All must come to an end; and if when you die your soul is lost, all is lost for you 'Consider thyself as already dead,' knowing that thou must necessarily die' If you were already dead, what would you not desire to have done? now that you are alive, reflect that one day you must die." Wow, that was powerful, it's the knowledge that is the key to our lack of fearing death. And in this life with God's grace we have that knowledge.
Jesus paid the ultimate price for us, His love for us and our sins placed Him on a cross; a cross that would kill His earthly body for only three days. His death defeated all the horror that was waiting for us upon on our death. He took down the walls of death and transformed those walls into the path of eternity with Him in Heaven. By embracing death and understanding it's true meaning, we can be like Jesus, and have no fear of what the world can do to us, because in the end we will be with Him. No one in this life has the power to take us from Him, unless we allow it. The people and things of this world only have the power to eternally destroy us, if we so chose to give them that power. When death comes to us, all is over, everything we were doing and planning ends. Our hearts and minds and souls need to be clean and pure before God. We have been blessed with a most special sacrament, a sacrament that we should embrace, for it is through confession that we are made clean before God, a cleansing we need in order to enter Heaven.
Lent is a special time of preparation for us, as we prepare for the Easter. Let's use this time to cleanse our souls, and get our lives in order and prepare for Jesus. I have found there is a really straight to the point way to fully understand death and with God's wisdom and love, you to can see what I am talking about. Have you ever been in a cemetery before? I would suppose for pretty much for everybody that's a yes. Well, that's the one place where you can't deny the ultimate effects of death; it is there that you see names of family members and friends written on stone tablets. It is there that I feel I can really talk to God sometimes. I know He's there ministering to His children. It is there that I realize that in this life what really matters. Is it the cars, the houses, the money, the lust, the pleasures. No, No, No, No, No.. It's the relationships that are solidified there. I remember my grandma's, my aunts and uncles, dear Friends I grew up with, a old neighbor I adopted as an uncle. It is there, that, what I do now, will end; and that I to will be here one day.
Today's Challenge: Reality Check. Go to the cemetery visit family and friends, pray for them while you are there, ask God to embrace them. Talk to them telling them how much you love them and miss them. The sorrow and love you find in a cemetery hold much wisdom. Allow God to open your heart and understanding in your preparation for when it is your time.
Your brother in Christ Jesus & His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr SFO
Never Fear Death In This Life
©2010 James Dacey, Jr. SFO
Lent 2010 - Day 21
Hello Everyone,
What is death? It is the burying of the mortal body into the ground and a releasing of the immortal soul into eternal life. No one can escape the claws of death, all of us will one day experience it. So knowing that we should be able to conquer the fear we may have of this, dying is a natural part of living. Yes it is sad, it can be horrible depending on how we might die, but instantaneously upon the moment it occurs, our lives are forever eternally changed. This is the one time we can and will be completely be separated from this world. But with that knowledge we have such wisdom to gain. That tells us that what happens here is temporal, and what happens here will greatly affect where we will go for all eternity. Some may ask, "Do you have a death wish? talking so boldly about death like it's nothing." The only wish I have is that at my death, that I get to be with Jesus in Heaven for all eternity. For what other purpose of preparation do we have while we are here? We have an infinite amount of interactions in our lives, all of which can and could directly affect our eternal outcome.
Now do want to take a chance and risk all eternity for the pleasures of this world? That was a rhetorical question. I would hope that knowing the high stakes that are on the table that one wouldn't want to risk losing it all. "Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death that is, the devil and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham's descendants." Hebrews 2:14-16. We are all Abraham's descendants. The power of death is gone, it no longer hangs over us keeping us a prisoner unto it. Look at what St. Lawrence Justinian said, "All must come to an end; and if when you die your soul is lost, all is lost for you 'Consider thyself as already dead,' knowing that thou must necessarily die' If you were already dead, what would you not desire to have done? now that you are alive, reflect that one day you must die." Wow, that was powerful, it's the knowledge that is the key to our lack of fearing death. And in this life with God's grace we have that knowledge.
Jesus paid the ultimate price for us, His love for us and our sins placed Him on a cross; a cross that would kill His earthly body for only three days. His death defeated all the horror that was waiting for us upon on our death. He took down the walls of death and transformed those walls into the path of eternity with Him in Heaven. By embracing death and understanding it's true meaning, we can be like Jesus, and have no fear of what the world can do to us, because in the end we will be with Him. No one in this life has the power to take us from Him, unless we allow it. The people and things of this world only have the power to eternally destroy us, if we so chose to give them that power. When death comes to us, all is over, everything we were doing and planning ends. Our hearts and minds and souls need to be clean and pure before God. We have been blessed with a most special sacrament, a sacrament that we should embrace, for it is through confession that we are made clean before God, a cleansing we need in order to enter Heaven.
Lent is a special time of preparation for us, as we prepare for the Easter. Let's use this time to cleanse our souls, and get our lives in order and prepare for Jesus. I have found there is a really straight to the point way to fully understand death and with God's wisdom and love, you to can see what I am talking about. Have you ever been in a cemetery before? I would suppose for pretty much for everybody that's a yes. Well, that's the one place where you can't deny the ultimate effects of death; it is there that you see names of family members and friends written on stone tablets. It is there that I feel I can really talk to God sometimes. I know He's there ministering to His children. It is there that I realize that in this life what really matters. Is it the cars, the houses, the money, the lust, the pleasures. No, No, No, No, No.. It's the relationships that are solidified there. I remember my grandma's, my aunts and uncles, dear Friends I grew up with, a old neighbor I adopted as an uncle. It is there, that, what I do now, will end; and that I to will be here one day.
Today's Challenge: Reality Check. Go to the cemetery visit family and friends, pray for them while you are there, ask God to embrace them. Talk to them telling them how much you love them and miss them. The sorrow and love you find in a cemetery hold much wisdom. Allow God to open your heart and understanding in your preparation for when it is your time.
Your brother in Christ Jesus & His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr SFO
Monday, March 8, 2010
Take Up Your Cross Today
Beads of Joy 03-08-10
Take Up Your Cross Today
©2010 James Dacey, Jr. SFO
Lent 2010 - Day 20
Hello Everyone,
Following Jesus was never meant to be an admirable way of life, at least the way the world would view it. We must remember as we follow Jesus, our choices and constant pursuit to continue following Him must never be influenced by anything or anyone in this world. We must not hesitate, but rather we need to immediately follow Him. "At once they left their nets and followed him." Matthew 4:20, "and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him." Matthew 4:22, God without hesitation sacrificed His one and only begotten Son to die upon a cross to save us; we must in turn without hesitation pickup our cross and follow Him. The cross we bare maybe heavy, it maybe be hurtful, it maybe beyond what we think we deserve in this life. I agree with those sentiments, but at the same time I will be the first to say; no matter how bad or painful it may appear, it pales in comparison as to being nailed upon a cross by everyone who hates you, to watch you die. We need to offer up this pain, for God will not leave us alone with these burdens. Jesus tells us, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28.
On your calendar today, circle the date, mark it with a cross. Offer everything you endure, all the pain that tears up your insides, up to Jesus. I know how hard this is, it's not that simple, but I will offer you the hope that it is possible. When you stay focused on Jesus and you know and trust His word and believe in Him, nothing will stop the faith you have inside. My life is not at all perfect and easy, oh how that would be wonderful. No, its far from that. My life is entangled with challenges and attacked without rest in this world. I am far from anything that would even remotely resemble a saint; but in my quest for and desire to follow Jesus alone in this life, my life has become something satan desires to destroy. In the past many times I have compared my life to the life of Job. But thank God for such wonderful Godly priests in my life, both Fr. Gerald Mullally and Fr. Peter Calabrese both at two different times and in two different places both pointed out, that I should be thankful that my life has been nothing at all like Job's. But many of you can relate to that and many of you may have even thought that also.
Know that you are not alone my dear brothers and sisters. Many of us suffer with pain caused by those who love us and those who hate us. Become bold in your faith, you need not be arrogant, just be BOLD. Our true desire for God comes from the depths of our hearts and the abyss of our soul. He needs to the only one to fill that place; never back down, or ever consider denying God to protect your own pride. He must literally be the very blood that flows through our veins. Consider this: You have been told to go in a particular direction for a good and healthy Godly life that can and will cause pain and challenges; but you have also been told, do not veer from the path set before you, if you do, eternal death will be your wager. Now on this journey you encounter others offering pleasure, promises and a good pat on the back for agreeing with them; the only thing is that you must go in a direction that takes you far away from the path that avoids death. But this path looks so wonderful, it seems fine, you feel good, you're not hurting anybody. It should be ok, right?
Do not be deceived by such a claim. Pain and suffering are not bad when you truly understand your life's focus and purpose in serving a powerful almighty God. God did not come here to save us from pain and suffering, on the contrary it will be through pain and suffering that we will be given the grace to follow Him. "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope." Romans 5:1-4. Do you see how we can be strong knowing well that we should never fear what this world desires to do to us. Always know, "For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows." 2 Corinthians 1:5.
Today's Challenge: Be BOLD. Yes Bold. Draw yourself close to Jesus in your prayer life, know His word, feel His love, love Him back. Defend His name and honor in a loving caring way. And always stay on the path leading to Him. Offer your suffering to Him, to further proclaim your love of Him. Also watch: The Passion of The Christ. See how He suffered for us. Allow yourself to feel His pain, cry, really cry for Him.
Your brother in Christ Jesus & His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr SFO
Take Up Your Cross Today
©2010 James Dacey, Jr. SFO
Lent 2010 - Day 20
Hello Everyone,
Following Jesus was never meant to be an admirable way of life, at least the way the world would view it. We must remember as we follow Jesus, our choices and constant pursuit to continue following Him must never be influenced by anything or anyone in this world. We must not hesitate, but rather we need to immediately follow Him. "At once they left their nets and followed him." Matthew 4:20, "and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him." Matthew 4:22, God without hesitation sacrificed His one and only begotten Son to die upon a cross to save us; we must in turn without hesitation pickup our cross and follow Him. The cross we bare maybe heavy, it maybe be hurtful, it maybe beyond what we think we deserve in this life. I agree with those sentiments, but at the same time I will be the first to say; no matter how bad or painful it may appear, it pales in comparison as to being nailed upon a cross by everyone who hates you, to watch you die. We need to offer up this pain, for God will not leave us alone with these burdens. Jesus tells us, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28.
On your calendar today, circle the date, mark it with a cross. Offer everything you endure, all the pain that tears up your insides, up to Jesus. I know how hard this is, it's not that simple, but I will offer you the hope that it is possible. When you stay focused on Jesus and you know and trust His word and believe in Him, nothing will stop the faith you have inside. My life is not at all perfect and easy, oh how that would be wonderful. No, its far from that. My life is entangled with challenges and attacked without rest in this world. I am far from anything that would even remotely resemble a saint; but in my quest for and desire to follow Jesus alone in this life, my life has become something satan desires to destroy. In the past many times I have compared my life to the life of Job. But thank God for such wonderful Godly priests in my life, both Fr. Gerald Mullally and Fr. Peter Calabrese both at two different times and in two different places both pointed out, that I should be thankful that my life has been nothing at all like Job's. But many of you can relate to that and many of you may have even thought that also.
Know that you are not alone my dear brothers and sisters. Many of us suffer with pain caused by those who love us and those who hate us. Become bold in your faith, you need not be arrogant, just be BOLD. Our true desire for God comes from the depths of our hearts and the abyss of our soul. He needs to the only one to fill that place; never back down, or ever consider denying God to protect your own pride. He must literally be the very blood that flows through our veins. Consider this: You have been told to go in a particular direction for a good and healthy Godly life that can and will cause pain and challenges; but you have also been told, do not veer from the path set before you, if you do, eternal death will be your wager. Now on this journey you encounter others offering pleasure, promises and a good pat on the back for agreeing with them; the only thing is that you must go in a direction that takes you far away from the path that avoids death. But this path looks so wonderful, it seems fine, you feel good, you're not hurting anybody. It should be ok, right?
Do not be deceived by such a claim. Pain and suffering are not bad when you truly understand your life's focus and purpose in serving a powerful almighty God. God did not come here to save us from pain and suffering, on the contrary it will be through pain and suffering that we will be given the grace to follow Him. "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope." Romans 5:1-4. Do you see how we can be strong knowing well that we should never fear what this world desires to do to us. Always know, "For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows." 2 Corinthians 1:5.
Today's Challenge: Be BOLD. Yes Bold. Draw yourself close to Jesus in your prayer life, know His word, feel His love, love Him back. Defend His name and honor in a loving caring way. And always stay on the path leading to Him. Offer your suffering to Him, to further proclaim your love of Him. Also watch: The Passion of The Christ. See how He suffered for us. Allow yourself to feel His pain, cry, really cry for Him.
Your brother in Christ Jesus & His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr SFO
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Repent or You Will Perish
Beads of Joy 03-07-10
Repent or You Will Perish
©2010 James Dacey, Jr. SFO
Lent 2010 - Day 19
Hello Everyone,
Today is the Third Sunday of Lent. A most exciting joyous time as we experience our walk with Jesus in this Lenten Journey. Today's gospel can be found in Luke 13:1-9 (The Parable of the Barren Fig Tree). Towards the end of today's gospel (v.6-9) Jesus teaches those present a parable that shows us how important it is to be ready; corruption and sin will only contaminate our minds and hearts and in the end we will perish. A failing fig tree represented our unrepentant sin. We must do all we can to stay as clean and as spotless as we can before God. We do not know the hour or how or the way we will leave this earth. Being prepared is so critical to our eternity. I pity the fool who thinks they can live a corrupt, sinful life and think, "Oh I am young I have time, when I grow old I will prepare for Heaven." We must not think like that. The fool who does not prepare for the unknown outcome of tomorrow; will only reap the rewards of those selfish choices today.
As our journey through Lent continues let us only use this time to keep ourselves pure and clean before our Lord. Frequent confession and a very open minded awareness of our actions will keep us closer in tune to always being ready. We are so fortunate that we have God's mercy and the time to get it right with Him; let us not be foolish and find ourselves left out of a most joyous wonderful eternity. Nothing in this world should ever be allowed to have such power over us, as to mislead and redirect our hearts to an abyss of death and to be led away from God. "Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong. Do everything in love." 1 Corinthians 16:13-14. We must allow the Holy Spirit to help direct us and keep us close to our Lord. "And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us." Romans 5:5.
We are so blessed to have one another, we are brothers and sisters in the Lord. We need to look out for one another, helping inspire and guide and protect one another as best as we can. Our first line of giving and loving goes directly to God first and foremost; that wonderful blessed love is immediately followed by loving others next. Let us show one another how much we really do care for one another's eternity, with encouraging words, scripture for comfort and a heart that really prayers sincerely and daily for each other. God has blessed everyone one of us with each other. Let's stand strong together as God's children so that we may reunite in our most blessed family reunion in Heaven. Let us never allow anything or anyone in this life to discourage us so much that we take our eyes and hearts off Jesus. I love all of you, those I am especially close to, those I have newly befriended, those I don't know and even more especially those who don't like me or may disagree with me when it comes to Jesus.
Let us hunger more for God in this life than we do for the very air we breath. I know that sounds extreme, and I do get extreme at times when it comes to my faith; but I feel we have to look at it as seriously as that. Archbishop Fulton Sheen said was once asked, "why pray?". His answer was not only insightful, but brilliant in it's eternal value over this life. He said, "Why breathe? Just as oxygen brings life to the body, pray gives life to your soul." In our prayers and repentance before a merciful loving God, we need to be open to having Him ever present in all we do; in all we think; in all we plan and everyone we meet. He really needs to be such a center in our lives that without Him, "why breathe?". I'm sorry if I sound harsh, but I only desire to help as many as I am blessed to know; to help them know and love and be with Jesus for all eternity. Throughout this process we need to keep our souls clean and pure before God.
Today's Challenge: Do we seriously hunger for a holy life before God? Do we seriously repent when we fall into our sins? I challenge everyone to prepare themselves for a good confession. And if possible and your schedule allows, try to make confession something you do every other week. At minimum at least once a month.
Your brother in Christ Jesus & His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr SFO
Repent or You Will Perish
©2010 James Dacey, Jr. SFO
Lent 2010 - Day 19
Hello Everyone,
Today is the Third Sunday of Lent. A most exciting joyous time as we experience our walk with Jesus in this Lenten Journey. Today's gospel can be found in Luke 13:1-9 (The Parable of the Barren Fig Tree). Towards the end of today's gospel (v.6-9) Jesus teaches those present a parable that shows us how important it is to be ready; corruption and sin will only contaminate our minds and hearts and in the end we will perish. A failing fig tree represented our unrepentant sin. We must do all we can to stay as clean and as spotless as we can before God. We do not know the hour or how or the way we will leave this earth. Being prepared is so critical to our eternity. I pity the fool who thinks they can live a corrupt, sinful life and think, "Oh I am young I have time, when I grow old I will prepare for Heaven." We must not think like that. The fool who does not prepare for the unknown outcome of tomorrow; will only reap the rewards of those selfish choices today.
As our journey through Lent continues let us only use this time to keep ourselves pure and clean before our Lord. Frequent confession and a very open minded awareness of our actions will keep us closer in tune to always being ready. We are so fortunate that we have God's mercy and the time to get it right with Him; let us not be foolish and find ourselves left out of a most joyous wonderful eternity. Nothing in this world should ever be allowed to have such power over us, as to mislead and redirect our hearts to an abyss of death and to be led away from God. "Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong. Do everything in love." 1 Corinthians 16:13-14. We must allow the Holy Spirit to help direct us and keep us close to our Lord. "And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us." Romans 5:5.
We are so blessed to have one another, we are brothers and sisters in the Lord. We need to look out for one another, helping inspire and guide and protect one another as best as we can. Our first line of giving and loving goes directly to God first and foremost; that wonderful blessed love is immediately followed by loving others next. Let us show one another how much we really do care for one another's eternity, with encouraging words, scripture for comfort and a heart that really prayers sincerely and daily for each other. God has blessed everyone one of us with each other. Let's stand strong together as God's children so that we may reunite in our most blessed family reunion in Heaven. Let us never allow anything or anyone in this life to discourage us so much that we take our eyes and hearts off Jesus. I love all of you, those I am especially close to, those I have newly befriended, those I don't know and even more especially those who don't like me or may disagree with me when it comes to Jesus.
Let us hunger more for God in this life than we do for the very air we breath. I know that sounds extreme, and I do get extreme at times when it comes to my faith; but I feel we have to look at it as seriously as that. Archbishop Fulton Sheen said was once asked, "why pray?". His answer was not only insightful, but brilliant in it's eternal value over this life. He said, "Why breathe? Just as oxygen brings life to the body, pray gives life to your soul." In our prayers and repentance before a merciful loving God, we need to be open to having Him ever present in all we do; in all we think; in all we plan and everyone we meet. He really needs to be such a center in our lives that without Him, "why breathe?". I'm sorry if I sound harsh, but I only desire to help as many as I am blessed to know; to help them know and love and be with Jesus for all eternity. Throughout this process we need to keep our souls clean and pure before God.
Today's Challenge: Do we seriously hunger for a holy life before God? Do we seriously repent when we fall into our sins? I challenge everyone to prepare themselves for a good confession. And if possible and your schedule allows, try to make confession something you do every other week. At minimum at least once a month.
Your brother in Christ Jesus & His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr SFO
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Distractions of Inside Joy
Beads of Joy 03-06-10
Distractions of Inside Joy
©2010 James Dacey, Jr. SFO
Lent 2010 - Day 18
Hello Everyone,
Today we'll take a break from our bible study and reflection; and we'll take a fun look at some leisurely activities that I have in my life, for spending the other 5% of my time. LOL. Well at least I can say that I most likely spend 95% of my time in "bible study mode" including prayer and research and ministry time. Maybe that's over the top. Even Fr. Mullally thinks it is. But I will say that I am so thrilled and excited and filled with so much joy every single day, that I spend time with my Lord, that I can't help it. Maybe I should have been a priest. I don't know, either way I would have been engulfed in this one way or another, once I got to know Jesus. I find that I gain so much emotionally and intellectually, and all that emptiness of loneliness we all get now and then, I will say for the most part I don't get at all anymore. If Jesus were to be ripped from my life, teared out of me, and I had to live a worldly life focusing on my own selfish desires, my heart would never beat ever again. But that's just me talking.
I enjoy leisure, I guess that's hard to believe, but I do. My favorite of all is writing, yes I do write a lot spiritually; but I also write a lot of short stories (mostly fiction) and I have a couple of books that I am writing that are in motion. I am a sci-fi writer kind of guy, not like the Star-Trek deep in space kind (though Star Trek the Original is my favorite); more like the real science facts with a twist of "ah that might be true" added to it. I believe it is so important that once in a while we spend time doing anything to relax our minds, and enjoy the splendor of all of God has given us. Even the disciples fished, I'm willing to guess that they not only had fishing businesses, but I would say they enjoyed it even more than just that. Growing up I use to go fishing with my Grand-father, my mom's dad, he's 95. He loved fishing, he always said to me, it was challenging to trick the fish, and then it was fun reeling them in. He found much leisure and enjoyment in spending time at Great Kills Beach and Sandy Hook, or the "Hook" as he would call it. I think there is a certain blessing we gain by breaking our time up a bit, so we can smile, laugh and look into the night sky and wonder at all the billions of planets that so eloquently stay positioned so perfectly in the heavens. And in that leisure Thank God for all these blessings.
Something else I find much leisure in, is music. Many of you see that in all the music I post. Music is so blessed to listen to, sing along with and to relax to. I have some serious religious music I really enjoy, but beyond that I also like all genres of music (rock, pop, rap, country, oldies, jazz, classical, etc), I like to learn the lyrics and then sing as best as I can with the artist to see how well I do. LOL. I can only image what you all must be thinking, "this guy is a crack-pot". LOL. I'm not going to argue, but I will say if any of you have tried this sub-consciously, you will admit it's fun, and it burns away any stress you may have. I really enjoy the English language and some songs have some really well thought out witty lyrics. So I find much leisure in enjoying whatever songs catch my ears. And then another enjoyment of mine is working. What did someone say I was even more crazy, hey I heard that. LOL. Yes working allows me to provide for my family, I find so much joy and pleasure in that.
Four years ago I started a second career in my life. My first career was being in our family owned auto collision repair business with my dad for almost 20 years. Was this trucking choice thee absolute right choice? I don't know. Was it what God wanted me to do? I really don't know. Maybe because I am a cowboy I was drawn to a "steel horse", my truck. LOL. I don't know, but I will say that this is the only career that I am able to spend hours listening to God's word, praying my rosary, speaking directly out loud to God and I can sing for hours to the top of my lungs. Opps did I slip that in. LOL. Any of those choices makes me so happy, and while I am being a professional driving I get to grow spiritually and the joy that is inside me keeps overflowing day in and day out. My cab is God's sanctuary, a safe Godly place for He and I every night for 8-14 hours. I get so excited that I can enjoy this time and I get to do things for my family because of this time. In another blog I will share the joy I had traveling around the entire country in a truck, I have had the opportunity to pray in over 45 states. My prayer life was on fire with excitement, my bible study was endless and constant. I was so filled with Jesus everyday. Just ask Janelle or Al. They were my two closest spiritual buddies for almost a year online. They blessed me so much, a real encouragement in my spiritual walk (drive).
Today's Challenge: Embrace a leisure that makes you feel good. Keep it in your life and Thank God every chance you can for bringing such joy into your heart and life.
Your brother in Christ Jesus & His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr SFO
Distractions of Inside Joy
©2010 James Dacey, Jr. SFO
Lent 2010 - Day 18
Hello Everyone,
Today we'll take a break from our bible study and reflection; and we'll take a fun look at some leisurely activities that I have in my life, for spending the other 5% of my time. LOL. Well at least I can say that I most likely spend 95% of my time in "bible study mode" including prayer and research and ministry time. Maybe that's over the top. Even Fr. Mullally thinks it is. But I will say that I am so thrilled and excited and filled with so much joy every single day, that I spend time with my Lord, that I can't help it. Maybe I should have been a priest. I don't know, either way I would have been engulfed in this one way or another, once I got to know Jesus. I find that I gain so much emotionally and intellectually, and all that emptiness of loneliness we all get now and then, I will say for the most part I don't get at all anymore. If Jesus were to be ripped from my life, teared out of me, and I had to live a worldly life focusing on my own selfish desires, my heart would never beat ever again. But that's just me talking.
I enjoy leisure, I guess that's hard to believe, but I do. My favorite of all is writing, yes I do write a lot spiritually; but I also write a lot of short stories (mostly fiction) and I have a couple of books that I am writing that are in motion. I am a sci-fi writer kind of guy, not like the Star-Trek deep in space kind (though Star Trek the Original is my favorite); more like the real science facts with a twist of "ah that might be true" added to it. I believe it is so important that once in a while we spend time doing anything to relax our minds, and enjoy the splendor of all of God has given us. Even the disciples fished, I'm willing to guess that they not only had fishing businesses, but I would say they enjoyed it even more than just that. Growing up I use to go fishing with my Grand-father, my mom's dad, he's 95. He loved fishing, he always said to me, it was challenging to trick the fish, and then it was fun reeling them in. He found much leisure and enjoyment in spending time at Great Kills Beach and Sandy Hook, or the "Hook" as he would call it. I think there is a certain blessing we gain by breaking our time up a bit, so we can smile, laugh and look into the night sky and wonder at all the billions of planets that so eloquently stay positioned so perfectly in the heavens. And in that leisure Thank God for all these blessings.
Something else I find much leisure in, is music. Many of you see that in all the music I post. Music is so blessed to listen to, sing along with and to relax to. I have some serious religious music I really enjoy, but beyond that I also like all genres of music (rock, pop, rap, country, oldies, jazz, classical, etc), I like to learn the lyrics and then sing as best as I can with the artist to see how well I do. LOL. I can only image what you all must be thinking, "this guy is a crack-pot". LOL. I'm not going to argue, but I will say if any of you have tried this sub-consciously, you will admit it's fun, and it burns away any stress you may have. I really enjoy the English language and some songs have some really well thought out witty lyrics. So I find much leisure in enjoying whatever songs catch my ears. And then another enjoyment of mine is working. What did someone say I was even more crazy, hey I heard that. LOL. Yes working allows me to provide for my family, I find so much joy and pleasure in that.
Four years ago I started a second career in my life. My first career was being in our family owned auto collision repair business with my dad for almost 20 years. Was this trucking choice thee absolute right choice? I don't know. Was it what God wanted me to do? I really don't know. Maybe because I am a cowboy I was drawn to a "steel horse", my truck. LOL. I don't know, but I will say that this is the only career that I am able to spend hours listening to God's word, praying my rosary, speaking directly out loud to God and I can sing for hours to the top of my lungs. Opps did I slip that in. LOL. Any of those choices makes me so happy, and while I am being a professional driving I get to grow spiritually and the joy that is inside me keeps overflowing day in and day out. My cab is God's sanctuary, a safe Godly place for He and I every night for 8-14 hours. I get so excited that I can enjoy this time and I get to do things for my family because of this time. In another blog I will share the joy I had traveling around the entire country in a truck, I have had the opportunity to pray in over 45 states. My prayer life was on fire with excitement, my bible study was endless and constant. I was so filled with Jesus everyday. Just ask Janelle or Al. They were my two closest spiritual buddies for almost a year online. They blessed me so much, a real encouragement in my spiritual walk (drive).
Today's Challenge: Embrace a leisure that makes you feel good. Keep it in your life and Thank God every chance you can for bringing such joy into your heart and life.
Your brother in Christ Jesus & His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr SFO
Friday, March 5, 2010
Seven Deadly Sins - Pride
Beads of Joy 03-05-10
Seven Deadly Sins - Pride
©2010 James Dacey, Jr. SFO
Lent 2010 - Day 17
Hello Everyone,
Lent is a wonderful time to look at some of the challenges we all face. Today we begin a series of The Seven Deadly Sins. They won't be posted in order, they will just be entwined throughout Lent. Today we look at what I think is probably the most overlooked and understated sin of all: Pride. I also believe it is the root behind so many of the sins we all deal with. What is pride? It's rebellion, it's arrogance, it's you thinking of you and you alone are all that matters and nothing else means anything without you. The center of all sin is "I" meaning you, meaning ourselves. With that being true, we tend to center our self by means of pride. There are many kinds of pride we can have: Boastful pride, Arrogant pride, Ignorant pride, Blind pride, etc. Some of these terms are my own. I like observing those around me. And I have seen so many different ways people act and speak and treat other people.
I think it would be fair to say that to some degree or another we have all committed this sin. It's all about us doing what's best for ourselves, yes it could be major, or it could be subtle, either way it's pride. You know you could decide you want to go buy some major item that will make you feel good. It maybe a computer, a car or jewelry, whatever. No matter what the item is, pride is all about our own self-esteem. It's also all about our own personal reputation, and what do I have to do to maintain it and keep it looking as good as I do, whether its all truth or all lies. Pride usually includes lies, in order to keep the pride out in the front, sometimes it has to be puffed up by lies to look even better than it truly is. Our pride also goes against God, whether we like to admit that or not. There is so much scripture when it comes to pride. Here are two to reflect upon:
"Let their lying lips be silenced, for with pride and contempt they speak arrogantly against the righteous."
Psalm 31:18
"A man's pride brings him low, but a man of lowly spirit gains honor."
Proverbs 29:23
How do we defeat or at least lessen the amount of pride that is incorporated into so much of what we do, and act, and be like each day? Well for starters we can begin by working on the completely opposite side of that sin, and the best way to defeat pride, is with humility. Being humble in all things is probably the greatest first step forward we can take. Humility is all about putting ourselves last and others first. True humility allows others including God, to use us in such a way that we are able to serve others. Remember my analogy of JOY, Jesus 1st, Others 2nd, You last. That is the cornerstone of humility. "For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." Luke 14:11, we can be humble before God and others and still live a wonderful life. Humility does not show weakness, in fact I believe you need to be an extra strong person to be humble rather than be a prideful arrogant one that wants to look tough in front of everybody.
Words of encouragement are throughout scripture, "But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." James 4:6, "Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time." 1 Peter 5:6. Jesus guides us in ways that are pleasing to God. I believe keeping this sin is check will probably be the toughest challenge for all of us. We ultimately spend a great deal of time alone with ourselves, at work, at home, yes surrounded by others, but still alone. We tend to and fend for ourselves a lot, more than I think we realize. Well there are ways to keep our pride in check that will not make us so guilty of being so prideful of ourselves. That was a mouthful indeed.
Today's Challenge: Deprogram the Pride Gene. Next time you're out and you are going to pick up yourself something (magazine, a snack, hobby stuff, whatever). I dare you to not buy it at that impulsive time, but instead pick up something else for someone you love. Buy whatever it was you wanted another time. You will bring much joy to those you love.
Your brother in Christ Jesus & His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr SFO
Seven Deadly Sins - Pride
©2010 James Dacey, Jr. SFO
Lent 2010 - Day 17
Hello Everyone,
Lent is a wonderful time to look at some of the challenges we all face. Today we begin a series of The Seven Deadly Sins. They won't be posted in order, they will just be entwined throughout Lent. Today we look at what I think is probably the most overlooked and understated sin of all: Pride. I also believe it is the root behind so many of the sins we all deal with. What is pride? It's rebellion, it's arrogance, it's you thinking of you and you alone are all that matters and nothing else means anything without you. The center of all sin is "I" meaning you, meaning ourselves. With that being true, we tend to center our self by means of pride. There are many kinds of pride we can have: Boastful pride, Arrogant pride, Ignorant pride, Blind pride, etc. Some of these terms are my own. I like observing those around me. And I have seen so many different ways people act and speak and treat other people.
I think it would be fair to say that to some degree or another we have all committed this sin. It's all about us doing what's best for ourselves, yes it could be major, or it could be subtle, either way it's pride. You know you could decide you want to go buy some major item that will make you feel good. It maybe a computer, a car or jewelry, whatever. No matter what the item is, pride is all about our own self-esteem. It's also all about our own personal reputation, and what do I have to do to maintain it and keep it looking as good as I do, whether its all truth or all lies. Pride usually includes lies, in order to keep the pride out in the front, sometimes it has to be puffed up by lies to look even better than it truly is. Our pride also goes against God, whether we like to admit that or not. There is so much scripture when it comes to pride. Here are two to reflect upon:
"Let their lying lips be silenced, for with pride and contempt they speak arrogantly against the righteous."
Psalm 31:18
"A man's pride brings him low, but a man of lowly spirit gains honor."
Proverbs 29:23
How do we defeat or at least lessen the amount of pride that is incorporated into so much of what we do, and act, and be like each day? Well for starters we can begin by working on the completely opposite side of that sin, and the best way to defeat pride, is with humility. Being humble in all things is probably the greatest first step forward we can take. Humility is all about putting ourselves last and others first. True humility allows others including God, to use us in such a way that we are able to serve others. Remember my analogy of JOY, Jesus 1st, Others 2nd, You last. That is the cornerstone of humility. "For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." Luke 14:11, we can be humble before God and others and still live a wonderful life. Humility does not show weakness, in fact I believe you need to be an extra strong person to be humble rather than be a prideful arrogant one that wants to look tough in front of everybody.
Words of encouragement are throughout scripture, "But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." James 4:6, "Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time." 1 Peter 5:6. Jesus guides us in ways that are pleasing to God. I believe keeping this sin is check will probably be the toughest challenge for all of us. We ultimately spend a great deal of time alone with ourselves, at work, at home, yes surrounded by others, but still alone. We tend to and fend for ourselves a lot, more than I think we realize. Well there are ways to keep our pride in check that will not make us so guilty of being so prideful of ourselves. That was a mouthful indeed.
Today's Challenge: Deprogram the Pride Gene. Next time you're out and you are going to pick up yourself something (magazine, a snack, hobby stuff, whatever). I dare you to not buy it at that impulsive time, but instead pick up something else for someone you love. Buy whatever it was you wanted another time. You will bring much joy to those you love.
Your brother in Christ Jesus & His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr SFO
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Propitiation For Our Sins
Beads of Joy 03-04-10
Propitiation For Our Sins
©2010 James Dacey, Jr. SFO
Lent 2010 - Day 16
Hello Everyone,
We'll start this by saying the word propitiation should be defined and explained before we begin. I to am a student to the full meaning of this as I begin what I have found here. So let's you and me take a look at a most incredible, important word that has way more insight and meaning than even I thought as I began this study.
Propitiation (prō-ˌpi-shē-ˈā-shən): an atoning sacrifice.
The meaning on its surface appears simple, yet this noun has much more meaning to it than simply that. Jesus is our Advocate, "And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world." 1 John 2:1-2. God's anger must be appeased, His wrath must be consumed by having someone sacrificed in order to pay for the sins of not only Adam, but of the whole world. The only sacrifice that would be acceptable before God and that would meet all the requirements that once they have been met; allow us to once again have a relationship with God, is Jesus. It is only in this sacrifice that all those requirements are met, and that is that the blood of God's only begotten Son to be sacrificed on a cross.
When sin came into the world it brought death with it, and the soul thus died for all eternity. And because of this sin, the plight that would destroy all mankind; the only way this can ever be reconciled with God, was through the death of God's one and only Son. It is by the shedding of His blood that our souls would be redeemed. I pray that all this is beginning to really make sense now. Jesus Christ is the all sufficient propitiation for our sins. Jesus offered Himself knowing well that His death alone would appease the Father and that by His death would reconcile us with God. So God in all His wisdom sent His Son so that He can save not only the Jews, but everyone.
This study has us look deeper into a more complete understanding of the full scope of propitiation. That in turn leads us into a clearer understanding to the meaning of a more familiar word: sacrifice. We find this word in scripture approximately 357 times depending upon your version. Here is a verse that gets straight to the point and does well in linking the two thoughts together, "This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins." 1 John 4:10. We further look into scripture and find another verse deepening our insight. "Then Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself." Hebrew 9:26
Sacrifice (ˈsa-krə-ˌfīs): 1. an act of offering to a deity something precious; especially : the killing of a victim on an altar 2. something offered in sacrifice 3. destruction or surrender of something for the sake of something else 4. something given up or lost
We can see now how Jesus' blood cleansed all the world of sin. His sacrifice was made acceptable before God. The Passion of the Christ is truly and most likely the place to experience this best; especially after learning all this. Not only do we see, but now better understand what has taken place. Jesus suffered a most horrific death for us. He was beaten to the point that probably most likely no one could have endured without dying during the beatings alone.
Today's Challenge: Time To Go To The Movies. Today I offer this challenge, spend some serious time watching and experiencing, "The Passion of the Christ" Mel Gibson's version is most likely the closest to the severity of how much our Lord suffered. I believe He suffered even more than what was depicted here.
Your brother in Christ Jesus & His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr SFO
Propitiation For Our Sins
©2010 James Dacey, Jr. SFO
Lent 2010 - Day 16
Hello Everyone,
We'll start this by saying the word propitiation should be defined and explained before we begin. I to am a student to the full meaning of this as I begin what I have found here. So let's you and me take a look at a most incredible, important word that has way more insight and meaning than even I thought as I began this study.
Propitiation (prō-ˌpi-shē-ˈā-shən): an atoning sacrifice.
The meaning on its surface appears simple, yet this noun has much more meaning to it than simply that. Jesus is our Advocate, "And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world." 1 John 2:1-2. God's anger must be appeased, His wrath must be consumed by having someone sacrificed in order to pay for the sins of not only Adam, but of the whole world. The only sacrifice that would be acceptable before God and that would meet all the requirements that once they have been met; allow us to once again have a relationship with God, is Jesus. It is only in this sacrifice that all those requirements are met, and that is that the blood of God's only begotten Son to be sacrificed on a cross.
When sin came into the world it brought death with it, and the soul thus died for all eternity. And because of this sin, the plight that would destroy all mankind; the only way this can ever be reconciled with God, was through the death of God's one and only Son. It is by the shedding of His blood that our souls would be redeemed. I pray that all this is beginning to really make sense now. Jesus Christ is the all sufficient propitiation for our sins. Jesus offered Himself knowing well that His death alone would appease the Father and that by His death would reconcile us with God. So God in all His wisdom sent His Son so that He can save not only the Jews, but everyone.
This study has us look deeper into a more complete understanding of the full scope of propitiation. That in turn leads us into a clearer understanding to the meaning of a more familiar word: sacrifice. We find this word in scripture approximately 357 times depending upon your version. Here is a verse that gets straight to the point and does well in linking the two thoughts together, "This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins." 1 John 4:10. We further look into scripture and find another verse deepening our insight. "Then Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself." Hebrew 9:26
Sacrifice (ˈsa-krə-ˌfīs): 1. an act of offering to a deity something precious; especially : the killing of a victim on an altar 2. something offered in sacrifice 3. destruction or surrender of something for the sake of something else 4. something given up or lost
We can see now how Jesus' blood cleansed all the world of sin. His sacrifice was made acceptable before God. The Passion of the Christ is truly and most likely the place to experience this best; especially after learning all this. Not only do we see, but now better understand what has taken place. Jesus suffered a most horrific death for us. He was beaten to the point that probably most likely no one could have endured without dying during the beatings alone.
Today's Challenge: Time To Go To The Movies. Today I offer this challenge, spend some serious time watching and experiencing, "The Passion of the Christ" Mel Gibson's version is most likely the closest to the severity of how much our Lord suffered. I believe He suffered even more than what was depicted here.
Your brother in Christ Jesus & His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr SFO
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
His Readiness To Suffer
Beads of Joy 03-03-10
His Readiness To Suffer
©2010 James Dacey, Jr. SFO
Lent 2010 - Day 15
Hello Everyone,
This is beyond the truth; this is one of the things Jesus willingly did so for us to show us how much He loves us. Jesus definitely accepted the pain, the suffering and the sorrow involved with His journey and mission to save all of us. He not only accepted all of this, but was very ready for it and knew it to be throughout His ministry. "And he said, "The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life." Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me." Luke 9:22-23. Jesus was to be born to die, to defeat death for us. We to must suffer with Him, not only because we are following Him; but even more so because we must be like Him. "Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed." 1 Peter 4:12-13.
For us to be able to suffer like Him, is but a blessing. Some of us do have a challenge grasping that, and of cause that makes sense. I guess fully being able to grab hold of the entire concept does take time, and much prayer. Jesus is a true man of sorrows. He deliberately chose this path long before He was even born. "I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born, I am!" John 8:58. Just as Jesus knew us all individually long before we were ever born. "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you," Jeremiah 1:5. But we to must suffer like Him, we must never deny Him before anyone, denying Him will only make our eternity dark and distant from Him. "But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven." Matthew 10:33, "If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God." Luke 9:26-27.
What is our faith, but the whole sum of what the cross was and is, and what it fully stands for. It was through the very cross that we have been saved by His suffering. Jesus tells us that we are to be like Him. "Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." Matthew 16:24, "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters yes, even his own life he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple." Luke 14:26-27. Let us boldly, bravely follow Him. Nothing else in this world can or will ever save us. It is only through the pain, suffering and sorrow that our dear Lord has endured that will in the end save us.
The kind of suffering we can look forward to and embrace may vary for each of us. I have spent the past 27 years of my life doing all I can to stay as fully focused on Jesus as I possibly can. I am not afraid to deal with any suffering for Him. Pride, and selfishness and whatever it is "I" want must be put aside. He tells us, "I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves." Matthew 10:16. Scripture is our guide, we need to embrace God's word and always return to His guidance in our lives. He alone will save us. "On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you." Matthew 10:18-20. Hold strong, we can do it all with Him. "You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world." 1 John 4:4
Today's Challenge: Unselfishness. This will require great devotion to our Lord. Today I say this. Put down all that you embrace that tie and hold you to this earth (meaning hobbies, possessions, treasures). And take up the Cross of Christ that you so fear will bring you pain, embrace it, look up at Him and follow Him.
Your brother in Christ Jesus & His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr SFO
His Readiness To Suffer
©2010 James Dacey, Jr. SFO
Lent 2010 - Day 15
Hello Everyone,
This is beyond the truth; this is one of the things Jesus willingly did so for us to show us how much He loves us. Jesus definitely accepted the pain, the suffering and the sorrow involved with His journey and mission to save all of us. He not only accepted all of this, but was very ready for it and knew it to be throughout His ministry. "And he said, "The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life." Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me." Luke 9:22-23. Jesus was to be born to die, to defeat death for us. We to must suffer with Him, not only because we are following Him; but even more so because we must be like Him. "Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed." 1 Peter 4:12-13.
For us to be able to suffer like Him, is but a blessing. Some of us do have a challenge grasping that, and of cause that makes sense. I guess fully being able to grab hold of the entire concept does take time, and much prayer. Jesus is a true man of sorrows. He deliberately chose this path long before He was even born. "I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born, I am!" John 8:58. Just as Jesus knew us all individually long before we were ever born. "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you," Jeremiah 1:5. But we to must suffer like Him, we must never deny Him before anyone, denying Him will only make our eternity dark and distant from Him. "But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven." Matthew 10:33, "If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God." Luke 9:26-27.
What is our faith, but the whole sum of what the cross was and is, and what it fully stands for. It was through the very cross that we have been saved by His suffering. Jesus tells us that we are to be like Him. "Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." Matthew 16:24, "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters yes, even his own life he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple." Luke 14:26-27. Let us boldly, bravely follow Him. Nothing else in this world can or will ever save us. It is only through the pain, suffering and sorrow that our dear Lord has endured that will in the end save us.
The kind of suffering we can look forward to and embrace may vary for each of us. I have spent the past 27 years of my life doing all I can to stay as fully focused on Jesus as I possibly can. I am not afraid to deal with any suffering for Him. Pride, and selfishness and whatever it is "I" want must be put aside. He tells us, "I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves." Matthew 10:16. Scripture is our guide, we need to embrace God's word and always return to His guidance in our lives. He alone will save us. "On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you." Matthew 10:18-20. Hold strong, we can do it all with Him. "You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world." 1 John 4:4
Today's Challenge: Unselfishness. This will require great devotion to our Lord. Today I say this. Put down all that you embrace that tie and hold you to this earth (meaning hobbies, possessions, treasures). And take up the Cross of Christ that you so fear will bring you pain, embrace it, look up at Him and follow Him.
Your brother in Christ Jesus & His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr SFO
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
The Spotless Lamb of God
Beads of Joy 03-02-10
The Spotless Lamb of God
©2010 James Dacey, Jr. SFO
Lent 2010 - Day 14
Hello Everyone,
Spotless and perfect in every way, sinless and pure in all things. No other has ever walked the face of the earth with such magnificent hope as He. So many have been awed by His presence, so many sing and rejoice in the words and promises He has shared and taught. Yet He lives but a simple life, He does not wear diamonds or gold, He does not live in a palace. Yet no matter how simple He was, He is to this day a most adored person and Saviour in the entire universe. So many, myself included look forward to His fabulous return. We wait in hope and anticipation to be able to join Him in Heaven, so that we might be able to spend all of eternity worshiping and praising Him. The world we live in does not know Him, but we are God's children. "Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God." John 1:12-13
It has been through the sacrifice of His most precious blood that our sins have been forgiven, nothing in this entire world could have ever paid for our sins, His blood was required in order to save us. "For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake." 1 Peter 1:18-20 He was most certainly without blemish, He is the true lamb of God. We must live our lives honoring Him for we have been purchased by the blood God's only Son who died for us. Let us not fall victim to the sinful nature and habits we once had, instead let us live a life worthy of His love for us.
Do our indulgences weaken us? I think so, I know that's my opinion, but I believe that any distraction of any sort that causes us to turn back weaken us. Before we knew Jesus those indulgences didn't distract us from Him, but now that our heart knows Him and we love Him, we only seek to please Him. Turning back to them, to me, is turning away from Him. That would cause too much hurt and tears to dare offend my Lord. "Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods. But now that you know God or rather are known by God how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable principles? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again? You are observing special days and months and seasons and years!" Galatians 4:8-10.
This very issue came up while Jesus spoke to the disciples. "Another disciple said to him, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father."But Jesus told him, "Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead." Matthew 8:21-22. That maybe very hard for many of us to accept, but I think we need to understand the larger picture of our salvation. Think of this passage the way I understand it in my own reflection. What was the disciple asking to do? Yes, go back and bury his father, but by saying bury his father; he is obviously saying that his father is already dead. Why would you want to leave the presence of God to go back to something or someone who is no longer a part of your life, but instead dead? That distraction will keep you away from the most precious spotless lamb of God. Nothing and no one in this world is worth that risk of taking us away from Him.
Today's Challenge: Eucharistic Adoration. Just try your best to spend one full hour with Jesus. Many parishes have this available. One hour a month, go there in a most reverent manner; if you can stay on your knees the whole time that would be fabulous, if not, just spend time with Him in silence, seeking only His presence. Don't ask for anything, except for His love.
Your brother in Christ Jesus & His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr SFO
The Spotless Lamb of God
©2010 James Dacey, Jr. SFO
Lent 2010 - Day 14
Hello Everyone,
Spotless and perfect in every way, sinless and pure in all things. No other has ever walked the face of the earth with such magnificent hope as He. So many have been awed by His presence, so many sing and rejoice in the words and promises He has shared and taught. Yet He lives but a simple life, He does not wear diamonds or gold, He does not live in a palace. Yet no matter how simple He was, He is to this day a most adored person and Saviour in the entire universe. So many, myself included look forward to His fabulous return. We wait in hope and anticipation to be able to join Him in Heaven, so that we might be able to spend all of eternity worshiping and praising Him. The world we live in does not know Him, but we are God's children. "Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God." John 1:12-13
It has been through the sacrifice of His most precious blood that our sins have been forgiven, nothing in this entire world could have ever paid for our sins, His blood was required in order to save us. "For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake." 1 Peter 1:18-20 He was most certainly without blemish, He is the true lamb of God. We must live our lives honoring Him for we have been purchased by the blood God's only Son who died for us. Let us not fall victim to the sinful nature and habits we once had, instead let us live a life worthy of His love for us.
Do our indulgences weaken us? I think so, I know that's my opinion, but I believe that any distraction of any sort that causes us to turn back weaken us. Before we knew Jesus those indulgences didn't distract us from Him, but now that our heart knows Him and we love Him, we only seek to please Him. Turning back to them, to me, is turning away from Him. That would cause too much hurt and tears to dare offend my Lord. "Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods. But now that you know God or rather are known by God how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable principles? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again? You are observing special days and months and seasons and years!" Galatians 4:8-10.
This very issue came up while Jesus spoke to the disciples. "Another disciple said to him, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father."But Jesus told him, "Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead." Matthew 8:21-22. That maybe very hard for many of us to accept, but I think we need to understand the larger picture of our salvation. Think of this passage the way I understand it in my own reflection. What was the disciple asking to do? Yes, go back and bury his father, but by saying bury his father; he is obviously saying that his father is already dead. Why would you want to leave the presence of God to go back to something or someone who is no longer a part of your life, but instead dead? That distraction will keep you away from the most precious spotless lamb of God. Nothing and no one in this world is worth that risk of taking us away from Him.
Today's Challenge: Eucharistic Adoration. Just try your best to spend one full hour with Jesus. Many parishes have this available. One hour a month, go there in a most reverent manner; if you can stay on your knees the whole time that would be fabulous, if not, just spend time with Him in silence, seeking only His presence. Don't ask for anything, except for His love.
Your brother in Christ Jesus & His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr SFO
Monday, March 1, 2010
Jesus - The Ideal Mediator
Beads of Joy 03-01-10
Jesus - The Ideal Mediator
©2010 James Dacey, Jr. SFO
Lent 2010 - Day 13
Hello Everyone,
Jesus Christ, God and Man indeed. No one is more perfect than He is. No one in the world has ever been so loved and adored and paid homage to more then He. He is probably also one of the most hated, the most rudely spoken of and the only name that can be taken reverently and in vain. The world has spent much time on how they might adore Him or destroy Him. But with all that said, we believers know Him for what He has done for everyone. His sacrifice was of infinite value, He being God and Man made Him the perfect doorway to defeat death for all mankind. "The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God." Romans 6:10. "I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved," John 10:9. Here's how I see it, Jesus Christ is indeed the Ideal Mediator.
No other person would have endured what He did, so unselfishly on the cross. Jesus is the only one who could be the perfect sacrifice. He being man made it so He can offer a sacrifice to God, then you add the fact that He is also God, that sacrifice becomes the perfect sacrifice. This was all part of God's plan for us, "And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." Hebrews 10:10, Jesus came to us in the natural way, by way of woman. And then at Jesus' baptism, God the Father revealed Him to all those present, "And a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased." Matthew 3:17.
As the Ideal Mediator indeed, He being God and Man having two natures at once. No other human being like Him has ever existed before, He who was man and was under the authority of His parents and the law while He was a child, was also the second Person of the Blessed Trinity. He also having two natures, He was both human and divine. I am not any sort of a theologian by no means, but my heart is fully submerged in my faith and love for Him. Sometimes I just allow the Holy Spirit to help guide me with my words. This life is only as fantastic and as exciting as it is because of Him. He who is God, who is the Christ. "For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant." Hebrews 9:15.
Being God's Only Son, His sacrifice for our sins was perfect. We to need to offer our own lives as a sacrifice. That may not go well with many of you, but to those who have been called I think you understand what I am saying. We must stop our own selfish desires and offer them up and surrender what we want and instead desire only that which He wants for us. "For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men, the testimony given in its proper time." 1 Timothy 2:5-6. One step at a time, we need to separate ourselves from the desires of this world and only desire the treasures and gifts of Heaven. Make yourself a living sacrifice, made holy before God, "Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is his good, pleasing and perfect will." Romans 12:1-2
Today's Challenge: Trust in God in today's challenge. Time to take the first step forward in sacrifice. What is it that you desire the most? Is it a sport, or a hobby, or maybe something that's not good for you. Today I challenge you to begin the process of eliminating it from your life. Your personal sacrifice to God. A huge burden will be lifted, you'll see what I mean.
Your brother in Christ Jesus & His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr SFO
Jesus - The Ideal Mediator
©2010 James Dacey, Jr. SFO
Lent 2010 - Day 13
Hello Everyone,
Jesus Christ, God and Man indeed. No one is more perfect than He is. No one in the world has ever been so loved and adored and paid homage to more then He. He is probably also one of the most hated, the most rudely spoken of and the only name that can be taken reverently and in vain. The world has spent much time on how they might adore Him or destroy Him. But with all that said, we believers know Him for what He has done for everyone. His sacrifice was of infinite value, He being God and Man made Him the perfect doorway to defeat death for all mankind. "The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God." Romans 6:10. "I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved," John 10:9. Here's how I see it, Jesus Christ is indeed the Ideal Mediator.
No other person would have endured what He did, so unselfishly on the cross. Jesus is the only one who could be the perfect sacrifice. He being man made it so He can offer a sacrifice to God, then you add the fact that He is also God, that sacrifice becomes the perfect sacrifice. This was all part of God's plan for us, "And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." Hebrews 10:10, Jesus came to us in the natural way, by way of woman. And then at Jesus' baptism, God the Father revealed Him to all those present, "And a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased." Matthew 3:17.
As the Ideal Mediator indeed, He being God and Man having two natures at once. No other human being like Him has ever existed before, He who was man and was under the authority of His parents and the law while He was a child, was also the second Person of the Blessed Trinity. He also having two natures, He was both human and divine. I am not any sort of a theologian by no means, but my heart is fully submerged in my faith and love for Him. Sometimes I just allow the Holy Spirit to help guide me with my words. This life is only as fantastic and as exciting as it is because of Him. He who is God, who is the Christ. "For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant." Hebrews 9:15.
Being God's Only Son, His sacrifice for our sins was perfect. We to need to offer our own lives as a sacrifice. That may not go well with many of you, but to those who have been called I think you understand what I am saying. We must stop our own selfish desires and offer them up and surrender what we want and instead desire only that which He wants for us. "For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men, the testimony given in its proper time." 1 Timothy 2:5-6. One step at a time, we need to separate ourselves from the desires of this world and only desire the treasures and gifts of Heaven. Make yourself a living sacrifice, made holy before God, "Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is his good, pleasing and perfect will." Romans 12:1-2
Today's Challenge: Trust in God in today's challenge. Time to take the first step forward in sacrifice. What is it that you desire the most? Is it a sport, or a hobby, or maybe something that's not good for you. Today I challenge you to begin the process of eliminating it from your life. Your personal sacrifice to God. A huge burden will be lifted, you'll see what I mean.
Your brother in Christ Jesus & His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr SFO
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Transfigured Before Them
Beads of Joy 02-28-10
Transfigured Before Them
©2010 James Dacey, Jr. SFO
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
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
