My brother Rob and his girl friend (the amazing artist) Maria Rangel have a dear friend named Liza Boquiren who has been accepted into community of the Carmelite Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Alhambra. (An awesome order of nuns in So Cal.) However, Liza has school loans she needs to pay off. Liza’s friends brainstormed and came up with a way they could help her with her vocation – they are holding a raffle for this piece entitled “The Love That Saves.” Here are the details:
E-Raffle Information:
– E-Raffles are $5.00 a piece, no limit per person.
– For every 5 raffles you buy, get a 6th one FREE!
– E-Raffle drawing will occur on October 28th, 2008.
– All E-raffle purchasers will be notified of the winner via email (phone if no email).
Prize Information:– Image of John Paul II.
– Size 2 ft. x 2 ft. giclée print on canvas of an oil painting, value $900.00.
– Artist, Maria Rangel, www.rangelstudios.com
For more information or to purchase your raffle “ticket,” go to http://lizaboq.blogspot.com/2008/07/online-raffle-love-that-saves.html. (Purchase a raffle and spread the word to others! Thanks! -Bobbi) The raffle is closed.
Category Archives: catholic faith
An Online Raffle of “The Love That Saves”
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‘Yahweh’ Songs & Prayers Not Allowed at Catholic Masses
Here is an interesting article from CatholicNews.com – No ‘Yahweh’ in songs, prayers at Catholic Masses, Vatican rules. I guess that means no more singing “You Are Near” or at the least, we’ll have an edited version.
Quick Guide to Prayer Meditation
A friend was asking me about how I do a morning meditation and how it differs from sitting quietly and repeating an “ooom” mantra. Well, the purpose of my meditation is to quiet myself down (my head can be going a mile a minute) and to turn my heart and mind towards God in order that I may converse with Him, draw closer to Him and allow Him to guide me in the rest of my day. It’s basically spending quiet time with the one you love.
I admit that, unlike Brian, it doesn’t come easy to me to sit and pray. I have to work at it so that even on days when I feel rushed, I can give God some quality quiet time. Starting my day off this way helps me to keep Him in focus when the rest of the day is crazy with typical mommy duties. Some prefer to take this prayer time in the evening or at 2am when they are feeding a newborn. Go for whatever works for you. Start small and work your way up.
You might want to use a prayer book, scripture, spiritual reading or a daily devotional book (particularly for moms or Catholic woman) to get you started. Then let your heart speak to God one on one. Spend a few minutes in quiet so God can speak to your heart. Close with words of thanksgiving. Finally, to put your prayer into action you can pick something you’ll work on that day based on your meditation/conversation with God.
From Soccer Field to Priesthood
Here’s a cool story from CNA that I thought you might enjoy.
Soccer Pro Retires to Pursue Catholic Priesthood
Photo credit: CNA
“A professional soccer player in Massachusetts has retired from the sport to enter a Catholic seminary, saying he is ‘moving on to something much greater.’ Chase Hilgenbrinck, a defender for the New England Revolution, explained the motives for his retirement:
‘After years of discernment, I feel strongly that the Lord has called me to become a priest in the Catholic Church,” he said in a press statement released by his team. “Playing professional soccer has been my passion for a long time and I feel blessed to have successfully lived out this dream. My passion now is to do the will of God, which is wanting only what He wants for me. Though I will miss the game of soccer, I know that I am moving on to something much greater.’ ” (Continue Reading)
The Value of Suffering
I was talking to a friend yesterday about the value of suffering. As a Catholic, suffering is a part of our faith life and can even be seen as a “blessing.” This is a hard concept to understand, but in light of the cross, we can see how something horrible (Christ’s death on the cross) can be transformed into something incredible (our redemption.) In the same way, our own sufferings, when united to Christ, take on new meaning. It can draw us to a deeper love of God and a greater dependence on his Providence. It can also be offered as a prayer for the salvation of souls. It boggles my mind.
If you really want to dig deeper into this, check out the John Paul’s apostolic letter SALVIFICI DOLORIS (ON THE CHRISTIAN MEANING OF HUMAN SUFFERING.)
And for a simple explanation to share with Christians who don’t understand the concept, check out Why Are Catholics So into Suffering?