Prayer for my Granddaughter

 

 

By Lillian Penner

Dear Heavenly Father,

I pray my granddaughter will not be concerned about the outward beauty that depends on fancy hairstyles, expensive jewelry, or beautiful clothes.  But she will clothe herself with the beauty of a teachable, gentle spirit, displaying pure and godly behavior, for this is precious in Your sight.

I pray she will have a balanced view of beauty and charm, clothing herself with attractive and modest apparel, radiating the countenance of a godly young woman, choosing to dress in a way that pleases You.

I pray she will clothe herself with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, making allowances for the faults of others and forgiving those who offend her.  But the most important virtue is love.

Let that peace that comes from Christ rule in her heart.  I pray the words of Christ will live in her heart and make her wise, so whatever she says or does will be pleasing to God.

Moreover, I pray she will grow up to be a godly woman, loving You and serving You all the days of her life.

Amen.

C’est Bon,

Love you granddaughter,

Grams

 

My Elizabeths

February 7th is a special day in my family.    This day is the birth day of both my daughter and granddaughter.  They share the same birthday and the same saint name, Elizabeth.

Elizabeth, wife of Zacharia and mother of John the Baptist, is a great role model for women of all ages.  She would be considered very counter-culture in today’s society, which teaches women can only influence and weld power if they practice sex, contraception and abortion without restriction.

The bible teaches us that Elizabeth and her husband Zacharia were “righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.”  The married couple were childless in a society that put great emphasis on women’s role as the bearer of new life.

Elizabeth never lost faith in God.  She lived up to her name, which means “God is my oath.”  Elizabeth’s faithfulness was rewarded, for indeed God had a great plan for her and Zacharia.

The gospel of Luke tells us that Zacharia was visited by the angel Gabriel.  The angel announced the future birth of a son, Luke 1:14, “And thou shalt have joy and gladness, and many shall rejoice at his birth.”

This angel makes another visit to a very young cousin of Elizabeth, Mary.  Upon hearing from the angel that Elizabeth was with child, Mary journeyed to be with her much older cousin.  At the sight of Mary, Elizabeth proclaimed, Luke 1:42 “Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.”

What a beautiful reunion between cousins!  Two women of different generations, both blessed with new life.  Two women expressing joy at the honor of becoming a creative partner with God!

I hope me and my Elizabeths can learn from this holy and good woman of long ago.

Today’s world teaches us to have faith in ourselves.  Women are taught that they need only follow their desires for happiness.  Fertility,  pregnancy and childbirth are treated as a disease.  Vulgarity and immodesty are considered paths to being accepted and loved.  Society teaches  women that thoughts of motherhood are outdated and these should be abandoned in exchange for business and worldly aspirations.

I reject that.

I believe we women are made for a purpose higher than ourselves.  For some women, this purpose is to protect and nurture a new human being.  Men are not designed by God for this purpose.  This privilege is for women alone.  It is only a woman who can actually contain two souls in one body.  How awesome!

There is no more important ministry than raising a child.  Children are our future.  They are the future church.  It is an awesome responsibility that God has given to woman.

As women, let us celebrate our womanhood!  Let us praise God for motherhood and rejoice in our own mothers making those sacrifices needed to bring life into the world!

Maybe one day, my lovely Elizabeths will live in a world that appreciates and treasures its women and recognizes the gift of motherhood.

“When a man loves a woman, he has to be one worthy of her.  The higher her virtue, the more noble her character, the more devoted she is to truth, justice, goodness, the more a man has to aspire to be worthy of her.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen

C’est Bon,

Love,

Sherry

God, the Author of Life

January 22, 1973, Roe vs Wade was decided by the United States Supreme Court.  January 22, 1973, Life in the United States drastically changed.  In a country that was founded on the principle that “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are LIFE, Liberty, and the Pursuit of happiness”, LIFE was taken out of that Declaration which was signed July 4, 1776 by our founding fathers.

If God is the sole Author of Life, man is the author of death.  And so the deaths began…

A February 2008 issue of Scientific American, posted an article entitled, “Your cells are my cells“.  The article revealed that research has proven that women carry cells from every child we have ever conceived for the rest of our lives.  Surviving children also carry our cells and any subsequent children who follow the loss of a sibling carries cells from that sibling.  We are all connected because we all have one Creator.  The moment we are formed in our mother’s womb we have been created.  The moment we are formed in our mother’s womb, we are a human being, and as such, we should have the same rights and protections as all humanity deserves.

There are millions of babies who have never had a choice; never had protection under the law.  It is time that society stands up for these babies and the countless more who have yet to be created.

I met a remarkable woman this past week.  Her name is Brenda DesOrmeaux and she founded the DesOrmeaux Foundation.  After the tragedy of 1973, Brenda felt a calling and decided to act.  She became an active member of the Acadiana Right to Life, working for the Pro-Life cause.  Her years of participation in this Fight for Life led to her running the Women’s Center of Lafayette.  After forming the DesOrmeaux Foundation, Brenda gave up her role in the Acadiana Right to Life and devoted herself to defending Human Life, the sanctity of marriage, and promoting chaste relationships.  Through her efforts, Lafayette, Louisiana now has a Pregnancy Center which offers free pregnancy test, family planning counseling, free ultrasound and financial assistance; the St. Marguerite d’Youville home which provides women with a peaceful, secure setting to help them process their needs, emotions, and choices; and the Baby and Me Boutique which specializes in selling maternity and baby items at give-away prices. Brenda heard God’s calling and she responded.

These are urgent times.  The more we advance with technology, the more technology points to the fact that a pregnant woman does not hold a blob of tissue. Each person is created unique and in the image of God.

Jesus said it best to Nancy Fowler in Conyers, Georgia, January 6, 1991: “Oh what a terrible, grave sin abortion is.  Man does not know the destiny of each child conceived, does not know the destiny of any child conceived.  So popes are murdered, priests are murdered, nuns are murdered, and on and on. Does this grave sin not bring about the wrath of God?”

And again to Nancy on February 6, 1993: “You must know that abortion is murder. I am the Creator, you are not.  I am the Author of Life, you are not. Do not kill who I have created.  The commandment of God is “Thou shall not kill”. You will battle with each other over laws that you create apart from Me.”

We are all called.

Romans 11:32 “Do not conform yourselves to the standards of this world but let God transform you inwardly by a complete change of your mind.  Then you will be able to know the will of God – what is good and is pleasing to Him and is proper.”

September 29, 1992; Our Blessed Mother’s message to Nancy Fowler for America: “America pick up your Rosary, kneel down and pray.

This week marks the 41st anniversary of Roe vs. Wade.  Do something.  Go to a March for Life; attend a prayer service or mass; contact your state representatives…. Together we can give hope to all the children of God who are yet to be.

C’est Bon

Love,

Sherry

 

 

 

Grandmothers’ Gifts

I was young when my mother’s mother passed away.  We called her Maw-Maw.  My only memories of her are of a very sick woman. My mother became her nurse in those days.   I do not remember any conversation I ever had with Maw-Maw.  My mother has told me that she enjoyed life. She loved dancing and visiting her friends.  It must have been very hard on her to have a disabling disease at the end of her life.

My father’s mother, we called Mom.  I was married with children when Mom passed away; but, I still never had a conversation with her.  Mom spoke only Cajun French and what little we said to each other was translated by my parents when we visited Mom and Pop every Sunday.  What I remember about Mom was her reverence to our Lord.  She was a very devout Catholic, always attending mass, saying her rosary and getting down on her knees at night to say her nightly prayers.  It made quite an impression on me as a young kid to see my two elderly and arthritis-riddled grandparents, who could hardly walk, on their knees beside their bed at night.

You might think I suffered in the grandmother-granddaughter relationship department.  You would be mistaken.  The Lord blessed me with two wonderful women in my life who were very much a “grandmother” to me.

The first of these wonderful women was a neighbor.  Mrs. Anita Larson, “Larson”, was a lonely widow whose only child and grandchild lived across the country.  My sisters and I latched onto Larson and we just adored her.  She called us her adopted grandchildren.  Some of my favorite childhood memories are sitting on Larson’s porch, in one of her big white wooden rockers, listening to her stories.  She was always full of compliments for us; the best shot of self-esteem a kid could have!  It was a true grandmother-granddaughter relationship. I never felt judged or unwanted.  I felt unconditional love.  Before Larson passed away, I was able to sit and visit on her porch with my own children.  She treated them the same; they too adored her.

The other grandmother in my life was my husband’s grandmother, Mama-Nu.  Words cannot describe the beauty of this woman!  I first met Mama Nu when my husband and I were engaged to be married.  She hugged me tight and said, “If my grandson loves you, then I love you – you are now my granddaughter!”  What a gift!  True to her word, Mama Nu always treated me as her granddaughter.  She had a twinkle in her eye and joy in her heart.  Everyone loved her and wanted to be around her.  What a special person.  It is 15 years today that she passed away, and she is sorely missed by all of her children and grandchildren.  It is impossible to think of her and not smile at some funny saying or antic she had come up with!

One day years ago, Mom was visiting us and she was able to walk next door with us and sit on Larson’s porch.  She and Larson spoke in French together.  Later on, Larson told me that my grandmother said her only regret in life was that she never learned English and could not speak to her grandchildren.

I consider myself very lucky in the grandmother department.  I know that I will see them all again one day.  When that day comes, I will get to know Maw-Maw and ask her to show me some of her dance moves.  I will thank her for the gift of my mother, who she raised to be the most excellent nurse, mother, and grandmother.

I will sit on Larson’s porch in heaven and finally have a conversation with Mom that we both understand.  I will thank her for the gift of her reverent and devoted acts; which spoke more loudly than any words could have.

And finally, I will greet my adopted grandmothers, Larson and Mama Nu and thank them for making me their granddaughter!  Their love and kindness is what guides me today in my role as a grandmother.

God Bless Grandmothers!

C’est Bon

Love,

Sherry

Pope Francis and Our Lady of Good Success

In 1577 five Conceptionist sisters traveled from Spain to Quito Ecuador (southern hemisphere) to start a convent.  The Convent was formally founded on January 13, 1577.  Among the five sisters was thirteen-year-old Mariana de Jesus Torres.  On February 2, 1594, as Mariana was praying, she received a vision and message from the Blessed Mother.  Mary was holding the child Jesus and stated, “I am Mary of Good Success, the Queen of Heaven and Earth”  So began visitations to Sister Mariana by Mary, archangels, and St. Francis of Assisi.  Mary commanded a statue be made in her likeness and gave prophecies pertaining to the end of the twentieth century.

That was over 400 years ago.  Venerable Mother Mariana received her last vision on December 8, 1634, the Feast Day of the Immaculate Conception.  She died a holy death at 3:00 pm on January 16, 1635.  Her body is to this day is incorrupt and her revelations are Church approved.

The prophesies regarding the end of the 20th century have all proven to be accurate.  Our Lady prophesied details about the loss of faith and failure of Church leaders to hand on the truths of Faith, resulting in a spiritual and doctrinal crisis.

These prophesies are summed up as the following five:

1. Various heresies will be propagated in this land. The precious light of Faith will be extinguished in souls by the almost total corruption of morals.  The small number of souls who preserve the treasure of the Faith and the virtues will suffer. The Sacrament of matrimony which symbolizes the union of Christ with His Church will be attacked and profaned.

2. Many authentic vocations will perish.  Injustice will enter even into this convent “disguised under the name of false charity, wreaking havoc in souls’. Sacrament of Holy Orders will be ridiculed, oppressed, and many of them corrupted. Corrupted priests will scandalize and incite hatred of enemies of the Roman Catholic and Apostolic Church.

3. Spirit of impurity will saturate the atmosphere and will run through the streets, squares, and public places with astounding liberty.  There will be almost no virgin souls in the world and no modesty in women.  Unbridled luxury will conquer frivolous souls.  Men of great wealth will look with indifference while the Church is being oppressed and virtue is being persecuted.

4. Masonic sects would introduce its teaching into domestic ambiences in order to corrupt the children and the Devil would glory in dining upon the delicacy of the hearts of children.  Innocence of children will be destroyed.

5. “…He might take pity on His ministers and bring to an end those ominous times, sending to His Church the Prelate who will restore the Spirit of its priests.”

“My Most Holy Son and I will love this favored son with a love of predilection and We will gift him with a rare capacity, humility of heart, docility to Divine inspiration, the strength to defend the rights of the Church, and a tender and compassionate heart, so that, like another Christ, he will assist the great and small, without despising the more unfortunate souls who ask him for light and counsel in their doubts and hardships. Into his hands the scales of the sanctuary will be placed, so that everything is weighed with due measure and God will be glorified.”

Pope Francis is the first pope from the southern hemisphere. He was born in Buenos Aries, Argentina.  Elected pope on February 28, 2013, he chose the name Francis in honor of St. Francis of Assisi.  In defending Church teaching he is known for stating that gay marriage is “the devil’s attack on God’s plan” and that women “be valued not clericized”.  He has urged a bishop to speak up against adoption by same-sex couples and has upheld Church teachings that divorced and remarried Catholics may not receive Holy Communion.  He has excommunicated a former Catholic priest for Eucharistic sacrileges and heretical views.

It is through this pope that Mary and her Son, Jesus will achieve Good Success.  It is the time of Our Lady and Her Son.

“Therefore clamor insistently without tiring and weep with bitter tears in the privacy of your heart, imploring our Celestial Father, for love of the Eucharistic Heart of my Most Holy Son and His Precious Blood shed with such generosity and the profound bitterness and sufferings of His cruel Passion and Death, He might take pity on His ministers and bring to an end these ominous times.”

“Pray without ceasing”

C’est Bon,

Love, Sherry