Count your blessings
Name them one by one
Count your blessings
See! What the Lord has done.
Count your blessings
Name them one by one
And it will surprise you
What the Lord has done.
That is our song for the Year end 2020. It is only one who has no deep thinking ability that will not be able to sing to the Lord’s glory. Our God is forever faithful, His promises never fail even if they tarry. It is only when we are able to hold on to His promise that we can say “ Truly He is omnipotent”
Yes, we have faced many difficulties this very special year, some of great magnitude, but for all standing today we should be grateful and sing to his glory.
Mother Mary has been there for us all the way. She has played her role as Mother of Perpetual Succour perfectly and we cannot but sing Ave! Ave!! Ave Maria!!!
Our Lord of Divine Mercy has shown us great mercies in this year as never before and we can only shout; Divine Mercy, I trust in you!!
To our loving St Joseph, the most faithful spouse of our mother Mary and The Worker, we say “Thank You.” We cannot forget our patron Saints, they have been wonderful. I especially mention my dear St. Anthony and St. Stephen for their many intercessions, they have been wonderful. St. Jude has also been helpful through his intercession for us who are his clients.
So in thanksgiving to God we have to be well prepared for the coming of His Son at Christmas. This year’s advent has to be different. Our focus must be on how we can show our appreciation to the Father through celebrating His Son. Christ life is one of prayer and sacrifice. He is the way, the Truth and the Life, so we must prepare for the end of this year by doing the following:
Praying and fasting, giving thanks for all He has done for us, our families, the Church, our nation and the world at large. The COVID 19 pandemic was set to destroy the world but here we are today as a people counting our blessings.
Make a sacrifice. It could be forgiving someone who has offended you by letting go of the grudge or revenge. You may also have to seek to be a blessing to one within your family, the house of God or your community, sharing with love that which you have. It might be your widow’s might.
Make Penance: Christ gave himself that we may live, God loved us by giving us His only begotten Son. So what can we do to pay Him for all His love? All we can do is to love Him by choosing His way. We should be ready to forgo our old ways of living according to the dictates of the world and promise to walk in his light, loving Him in truth and in Life. We must confess our sins.
Starting anew in Christ will help us to be prepared for the New Year, we will be strengthened to face the challenges the world brings with the assurance that He has conquered all and we are victorious as His people.
Watch and pray during the Advent through the joyous season of Christmas to the beautiful new 2021 and we shall all celebrate as Winners in Christ
I have been thinking a great deal about my experience at Reconciliation this past Saturday. I felt an intense and unexplainable urge to go and confess my sins when I woke up that morning. I try to go every six weeks or so, but this was no routine visit to the priest for me. I needed to unburden myself of the numerous venial sins I had committed since I last participated in this Sacrament.
Purest Gold: God's Refining Fire in our Lives »
After salvation, many young Christians wonder if there's anything more to their newfound faith than just the security blanket of "being a Christian." Time and time again, God shows himself as a "refiner," and our lives are as gold. God started leading me in this study to understand what He was doing in my life, as well as in the lives of others.
Picking up my pen to write this column, I couldn’t imagine how time flies. Since the last publication of this column I have gone through a lot, especially the loss of my dear mother to whom I dedicate this article. Not only her, but seems I lost a whole generation of my close family.
How to Achieve Business Excellence »
“Do you see a man who excels in his work? He will stand before Kings; He will not stand before unknown men.” Proverbs 22:29
Spiritual Development for our Youth »
Most of us youth in today's fast moving world are easily thrown off by difficulties and worries.
The theme of conversion is a thread that runs all through Lent, but conversion takes on different aspects throughout the phases of Lent. The first two and a half weeks focused on the interior turning of hearts; the liturgy urges the faithful to reflect and examine consciences thoroughly.
Saint Josephine Bakhita »
Feast Day: February 8
Patron Saint Of: Sudan
Saint Josephine Margaret Bakhita was born around 1869 in the village of Olgossa in the Darfur region of Sudan. She was a member of the Daju people and her uncle was a tribal chief. Due to her family lineage, she grew up happy and relatively prosperous, saying that as a child, she did not know suffering.
Catholics Must Fast More Intensely This Lent»
The Norbertine Canons of St. Michael's Abbey have created this digital Lenten retreat so that you can journey through this holy season alongside them. If you want to have one of your best Lenten seasons yet, join us in our Lenten Program "The Great Fast" - https://theabbotscircle.com/the-great-fast-join
When Your Faith Is Put to the Test - Bishop Barron's Sunday Sermon»
Friends, we come now to the Second Sunday of Lent, and we’re on both dangerous and very holy ground with the first reading from the twenty-second chapter of Genesis. The ancient Israelites referred to it as the “Akedah,” which means the “binding”: Abraham binds and is ready to sacrifice Isaac at God’s command.
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