Catholics
Comments
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Wow, I miss one day's worth of posting and I've missed so much!!! I was zonked last night and went to bed at 8:30. My body just gets drained still. But I love this group and miss you all when I don't check in.
Janet - congrats on your drains being out. That's amazing about your pathology report. When my Mom was diagnosed with BC, she only had the lump in one breast, but decided to have both breasts removed. They found cancer in the other breast too, but it was too early to feel. That was on the back on my mind too when I decided to have the lumpectomy. I hope I did the right thing.
Traci - prayers for healing of your thyroid problems. Did you go to the doctors? The 8:00 prayer time sounds perfect for me too. I'll join in.
Jan - prayers for low oncotype score
Michelle - count me in on the Novena. My DH has a special devotion to our Lady of Guadalupe b/c her feast day is his birthday!
Barb - welcome to our group! What a healing story! I don't know how many years ago you had to go through that, but I sense you are at a place now where you can forgive those people who hurt you, even though they thought they were doing the right thing. My daughter got pregnant at 17 also. I wish you had a supportive mother... but that's history and I think you are walking past that. I feel your pain. By all means, find a good priest and go to confessions. You will feel so at peace afterwards. I'm one of those people who hates to go to confessions, but I go, and when I come out of the confessional, I feel so good. The Holy Spirit does give you grace after a good confession and it's palpable. And then to receive Holy Communion! Wow. That being said, I've had some uninspiring priests at confessions, but you still get the grace. Apple, I know what you mean about familiar priests "knowing" who you are! LOL And it's worse when they know you AND your husband!!! D'oh! But they know the deal and they know who we are deep down in our hearts.
My bone scan came back good!! Yeah!!! She said there was a little thinning around the hips and that's where I feel the most achiness. Never had the problem before chemo or tamoxifen. I hope it goes away after I'm done with tamox.
Next Friday I have to have a nuclear stress test ... my EKG was abnormal. I think chemo did me in. Please keep me in your prayers that the stress test is good and that all I need is extra exercise!!
God's blessings to you all!! Now I have to go back and re-read. :-)
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Michelle - I just read your response to Barb and it brought back memories! Some of the worst people I've ever encountered were "good Catholics"! And it was usually when my kids were in school. My DD went to a Catholic school for a few years, but not my son. Even the CCD ministers! I never understood that. They seemed so judgmental. I was a single Mom and the community knew my ex-husband was an alcoholic, so there was a lot of that stigma on my kids. Not very Christ-like, for sure! Maybe that's why I'm gravitating toward St. Francis. Christ taught love... EVERYONE. Don't judge, lest ye be judged.
That being said, I've been around some wonderful Catholics who have really inspired me, including many priests. I thought I'd never be able to get divorced and annulled b/c I married a Catholic, but my very traditional spiritual director priest friend told me the truth and guided me through that and other icky life events. Plus my brother, God rest his soul, before he died, kept pushing me to see Father T and get divorced! :-)
So many of us have made dumb life decisions and some of us continue to do so, we're sinners and can't help ourselves! But we have a loving and forgiving Father. He knows our hearts and knows our weaknesses. Look at the people who surrounded him on earth. Just like you and me, always saying boneheaded things or doing something weak - like denying our Lord 3 times!
God is Good!!!
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Ladies, so many posts I can't keep up I love it. God has brought us all together to support each other in his loving presents. Thank you Lord.
It is a proven fact that people who are prayed for do much better healing ,than people that aren't prayed for. FYI
Barb, You will feel so welcome here. I am glad you joined us. I was born and raised catholic, but I need that personal relationship with Jesus Christ without any specific religion. The Lord is here with us on this thread with us you will surely experience this.
I will be here tomarrow at ten
Betty
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Sisters - As promised - here is an amazing story about Our Lady of Guadalupe. Father Stefan is one of the priests in my parrish and is probably the most amazing person & priest I have ever met. I don't even know where to begin so forgive me if I ramble. The summary on the link does not tell the whole story. At his previous parish, Fr. Stefan had a couple who was pregnant and the baby was diagnosed with a fatal congenital problem - the child would die within an hour of birth. The couple did not want an abortion and chose to continue the pregnancy. Fr. Stefan went to the Shrine to Our Lady in Guadalupe to pray about this terrible situation and find God's blessing & meaning from it. He had only a plane ticket - no money, no place to stay. But he does this frequently because he has such faith that God will provide for him. (Sure enough on all his trips, he meets someone on the plane or in the airport or some other place who invites him to stay with their family, etc.!) He prayed all day and purchased a small card for another parishoner who had asked him to bring something back for her. The attached story will give you some more detail here.
Anyway, to make a long story short, the baby was born and named Paul Stefan (after Fr. Stefan) and died shortly after birth. One thing led to the next and Fr. Stefan continued to pray about Paul Stefan and for intercession to save babies one at a time (another lifelong mission). Through various small miracles, land and two houses were sold to the new Paul Stefan Foundation for $1 to begin a home for unwed mothers where they could have their babies, receive work training, career counseling etc. (Fr. Stefan believes if more women had alternatives to abortion, they would have their babies.) Money was raised to staff the houses and the first baby born to a woman in the house was born a year to the day that little Paul Stefan was born! I think he is now on his third house; there is an annual gala each year that raises money and he has written a best-selling Catholic book. So his devotion to our Lady of Guadalupe, his lifelong love for babies, the couple who happened to be in his parish, all came together in an amazing mission.
If that wasn't enough, Fr. Stefan is a charismatic Catholic and holds a healing mass every month that people come from all surrounding states (some from states far away). The first time I met him he said I should come to the healing mass. I told him I thought it was just for very sick people. His reply was "Aren't we all in need of healing?" That's the kind of person he is! He has a fire that is unmistakable. Fast forward to today and my diagnosis of BC, and I will definitely be at this next healing mass.
So - what floored me was the combination of Michelle's note about Our Lady of Guadalupe and the touching note that Barb wrote. Fr. Stefan's story about Our Lady and also pregnant women immediately came to mind. Surely the tragedy of little Paul Stefan was turned into a miraculous movement. But I also feel it's a connection within our little group. I don't know what it means but it is pretty extraordinary. Just wanted to share it with you.
God bless.
link to Paul Stefan http://www.paulstefanhome.org/about-transitional-housing-for-pregnant-women/
link to Fr. Stefan's website
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Welcome, Welcome, Welcome to all our new sisters!
Hail Mary,
Full of Grace
The Lord is with Thee
Blessed art thou among women
And blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, mother of God
Pray for us sinners,
Now and at the hour of our death.
Amen
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Amen.,,
Jan... Breast Implants 101. The thread...
Ladies, my friend JUDY found out today that she is a triple -. A lady here on BCO agreed to talk to her via cell phone to help her grasp triple - disease..... Please continue to pray for Judy.
ALSO
Ladies... I have hurt someone I know deeply. I am so sorry for this. It was a complete misunderstanding... but this person was still hurt badly. PLEASE pray that the person I hurt.... stops hurting and that I did not put too much salt in her wound. I am beyond sorry... but my being sorry cannot take away her pain... please pray for her heart to heal. I feel sick about it... but what is done is done. I cannot take back what I did ( on accident). Please pray she feels no hurt.
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oh Laura,
You sound like you are in so much pain. Of course it was an accident, and I hope that once the sting fades, she will see there was no intent behind whatever transpired. It is so important to remember that you have done what you could do right now to made amends. Stay patient, breathe, try and step back and ask yourself what would you do if the situation were reversed? Forgiveness will come. Give her a little time. It's JUST as important that you forgive yourself. God loves you, and we are all at the end of the day, human. We all have done and said things we wished we had not, but I think genuine apologies go a long way. They do with me at least.
Her heart will heal, it will. Continue to be present and breathe in God's love. K?
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thank you Squidward... you make me feel good....:)
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Namaste to all !
Squid -traci- I thought your peayer group was everynight at ten vs ten on friday. Now the dicususion is every night at __X __well I almost feel now that when we come here, it is a paryer. I know when I first start coming when laura --Estepp invited me I started with the "Pergrine" prayer above . It was so easy because it starts each page.
The collective thought daily is good. Someone ask a healer priest if it means a difference of time of day. And if we have to have a time or just the collective thought. They are healer priests.
Fr Solanus. As childern after polio, we(twin and brother) were taken to him for his blessing. He laid hands on us three and prayed. I have know idea what it meant to our lives. But he his up for Sainthood. His prayer may have made a difference in our lives that won't be revealed to us until we pass. My only memory of it is the place was very old and long corridors and he came in ihe was in monks garb with a bead rope around his waist. ANd he had this long gray bread. He was very tall, we were very little. He prayed for us. Then no memory after that --like leaving those long corridors. Or him leaving after the blessing. Only the before. Only the before, when all the adults were so intense. It scared me. Evereyone was so intense.--Haven't had that memory surface in a long time.
Barb Welcome. The church and parents weren't -kind when you were pregnant and weren't understanding of the bond between a parent and child. I had several cousins go through it. ( 68 first cousins). Please , seek out your child. There are multiple registry sites. If that is something , you in you heart would like to do. If it is not, than it is not. But the fact that you have shared such an intimate supposedly closed story with us, tells me, your heart is still hurting to hold this baby that is now at least 39-----I say go for it. Chase that dream of knowing, this person that you have never forgotten. Whats the worst that can happen, they say no. Maybe their whole life they wanted to know, you didn't want to give them up, but were talked into it. Won't know until you try. GO GIRL reread what you wrote---all the words are there.
I too left the church at a young age, for different reasons, but never stopped praying.
Jan Virg your history story, I have to go back and reread because if i try to now I will loose my post, but there is something it reminded me of ?
Janet, Paula Laura, Pat Nameste to all L& H and Faith sheila
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Laura,
I am a triple negative gal too. There is exciting research on the horizon, I think it's the PARP trial, but don't quote me. It's a very tough diagnosis to get and read about, no doubt. I am very conscious of this, and why I did choose radiation, which was not in the original plans. I am not sure if she plans on coming to the boards, but she is more than welcome to PM me. It's important for her to hear how well triple negatives tend to respond to chemo. She will be in my prayers as I know she is just beginning the process.
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Theresa -you are way tooo hard on yourself. You just happened to meet a lot of boneheads. Love you babe, just the way you are. So, does HE.
Namaste-Sheila
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Theresa -you are way tooo hard on yourself. You just happened to meet a lot of boneheads. Love you babe, just the way you are. So, does HE.
Namaste-Sheila
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Laura,
I am a triple negative gal too. There is exciting research on the horizon, I think it's the PARP trial, but don't quote me. It's a very tough diagnosis to get and read about, no doubt. I am very conscious of this, and why I did choose radiation, which was not in the original plans. I am not sure if she plans on coming to the boards, but she is more than welcome to PM me. It's important for her to hear how well triple negatives tend to respond to chemo. She will be in my prayers as I know she is just beginning the process.
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Thank you Squid... I have given her this web site and told her this is an amazing learning site... we'll see.... TY for offering to help her online... I will have her PM you if she joins ...TY
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Sheila,
How have you been? I was thinking about you earlier.
Love to all the Sisters too, I have not said that today, and thank you all for your well wishes with my thyroid. I will have an ultrasound on the 20th, but we are not expecting anything untoward. Just the steps we all have to go through with our histories now.
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OMG
I can't keep up with all the great posts here. I think all of our praying may bring some very big results. Theresa I think what you are eluding to is divine intervention. I am not sure why I was so drawn to sign up to sit watch with the image. I am a huge Mary fan but heck I am busy, I have 3 little boys, a job and a huge personal project, I don't even have time to speak to my hubby for 3 minutes let alone sit with an image, But you know what I was called to it and I think we should prepare. I will put the Novena here tomorrow, post the time and I think we should begin praying it.
I would also like to have all of your full names (if you want) your intentions and have you pray at the same time as I am on watch. I think there is some amazing grace in the making.
Instead of putting your intentions here could you PM me so I can write them down at one time instead of going back and forth between the pages here?
My time to be with the image is scheduled for OCTOBER 18th (a week from Monday) at 7am
AZ time (which I believe is still PST during the month of OCT)
Again I have been asked to keep watch over the Missionary Image of OUr Lady of Guadalupe on the above date. In preparation for this visit we are asked to recite the Novena.
There are 9 days so I could post the Invocation (reading) each day and you could all pray that along with 3 Hail Mary's and a Glory be.
If we start this Sunday we will end on the day of my sitting?
If you all are ready I will post the first reading on Monday.
Please PM ME your intentions by Sunday
Love to all of you Michelle
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One more thought
If you would like all here to pray for your specific intentions let me know if you wish them to be private I can PM them back to all of you, or just ask for general prayers with your name attached, or if its ok for me to post the intentions here.
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mmm5
please PM with me about your.. big project.... you never did go oever it with me...when you brought it to my attention some time back..:)
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mmm5,
I might need a little guidance, some of this vocab is a bit foreign to me...The Our Father is something we always said at end of service. We don't have Rosary, so need a little education. Intentions I am assuming are prayers we request, self or others?
Thanks,
traci
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Traci ~
Hail Mary prayer:
Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee. Blessed is art thou amongst women, and Blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners. Now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
Glory Be:
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
The prayer we request can be for self and for others
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Laura ~
Lord Jesus, please guide Laura's friend for a clear understanding and the forgiveness of one another due to a misunderstanding. Please take away the hurt and allow them to heal their wounds. Amen.
Laura dear, time will heal everything. We have a saying "when the water retreats, the rocks will show" (meaning you can't see things that's submerged under water clearly because it is distorted, when the water level goes down or retreats, the truth will show). Wait for the low tide and don't beat yourself up, okay?
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Michelle ~
You have a calling
and I'm truly grateful that you are doing this for us. I've PM'd you already and I forgot, yes, my intentions can be public. Thanks again!*********************************************************************
Sheila ~ Namaste ! So you and your siblings got healed from polio by Fr. Solanus and he's up for Sainthood? Can you elaborate a little more? I'm not getting the story fully. But it sounds like you guys were at a monastery or something.
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Good night to you all {{{HUGS}}}
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Sheila - thank you for your kindness. Yes, I do tend to be my worst enemy, but hadn't realized that it came out in my posting. :-) I am in awe that you were blessed by Fr. Solanus! I was "introduced" to his cause about a year or so ago and prayed to him and Bishop Sheen to heal my DD. She is 100% cured. Glory Be to God! He was such a simple, holy man.
Michelle - I'll PM you tonight.
Traci - Novena = prayers said for a set amount of time (usually 9 days) for a special intention usually with the invocation of a saint, but there are novenas to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, etc. Rosary = one of the most powerful forms of prayer in the Catholic church, said on beads of 5 "decades" of 10 beads.... each decade starts with the Our Father, followed by 10 Hail Marys, Glory Be, then a prayer that I don't know it's name but know the prayer. Anyway, each decade you mediatate on a specific mystery in Scripture or Catholic Tradition and each day is dedicated to a theme. Mondays, Joyous Mysteries, Tuesdays & Fridays are Sorrowful Mysteries, Wednesdays & Saturdays Glorious Mysteries, Thursdays Luminous Mysteries, Sundays vary depending on the liturgical calendar. I know I've made it sound a lot more complicated than it is. Forgive me. Here's a link: http://www.rosary-center.org/howto.htm
Laura - prayers for you. I found this prayer which I think I'll start to pray daily!
Eternal Father,
I offer Thee the Sacred Heart of Jesus,
with all its love,
all its sufferings and all its merits.
First ---
To expiate all the sins
I have committed this day and during all my life.
Gloria Patri.
Second ---
To purify the good I have done poorly this day
and during all my life.
Gloria Patri.
Third ---
To supply for the good I ought to have done,
and that I have neglected this day and all my life.
Gloria Patri.
A Poor Clare sister who had just died, appeared to her
Abbess who was praying for her, and said to her: "I
went straight to heaven, for, by means of this prayer,
recited every evening, I paid all my debts."0 -
Michelle - so exciting. I'm pumped! Come on down, Holy Spirit!! I'm wondering if the image will be travelling to other places in the U.S. I'll PM intentions.
So many posts & hard to address all of them, but know I reflect & pray for each one. My thought for this morning....our job is to truly believe and God will do the rest.
Peace today for everyone. Let not your hearts be troubled.
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ps - my breast surgeon, Dr. Willey, was on NBC Nightly News this week! Here is link. Lord, bless our surgeons and doctors as they heal through You.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032619/ns/nightly_news/#39527223
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Thank you
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Janet,
Congrats on your drain being removed, isn't it great? I was just reading back, and am so glad you chose to follow you inner guidance, and Divine Spirit in choosing your mastectomy. It is such a hard decision to make, and I grappled a lot. I did not have any more areas besides my big fat tumor (smiling,) but upon learning of my triple negative status, I was able to relax a bit with my choices. When do you think your Onc will weigh in on the oncotype testing?
Teresa,
Do you mind explaining your St. Francis path? I know you shared some before, I want to learn more if your fingers aren't tired. Yes, judgement is not Christ. Years ago, I began a quest to understand how to find God in all of the very scary messages that I felt regarding God, judgement, punishment well, you get what I mean. I do have some troubles reading the Bible, but more because it is not in current lingo..so to speak. When I listen to a Minister or Priest discuss the loving parts of God and spirituality, it all comes back into place.
I have read books such as Living Buddha, Living Christ by Thich nhat hnah, Carolyn Myss, Peace is in Every Step, also by Thich nhat hnah. Lots of books in my quest (Siddhartha anyone?) And there are so many similar messages. These books seek to show the very similarities amongst faiths, and talks about Jesus and his non-judgement. Christ Like. Wow, now to aspire to his teachings, turn the other cheek? How difficult is that? for me it is. Forgiveness.
When someone takes the word of God to chastise or humiliate others, it is so hard to take. Then I remember, Jesus has infinite patience, understanding and love. I am thinking on human terms, and am not able to comprehend the vastness of his love for others. I have seen grace and forgiveness from people that no one would ever fault for their anger etc...wow! So much to learn in this lifetime. So when I hear judgement, or hateful speech, or thought, it may take me awhile, but then I remember, they are NOT representing Christ. It is not for me to punish back (tempting!) but to let go and let God.
Paula,
Thank you for posting the Hail Mary, and Our Father. Actually the wording is a bit different, same message
I will see you all tonight at 10:00....and just a reminder to please post any names for people you would like us all to pray for.
My Intentions:
I think of Apple's Brother, Jeannine, Carol, Welela, Bridget, Judy, Sheila and her Greg. Our newly diagnosed Sister's on the Boards, and those having a progression of disease.
I will probably add more later..
Have a Blessed Day!
Traci
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A Mass offered this morning for all of us and our intentions.
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Apple ~ Thank you for the mass.
I have a prayer to offer today also :
Prayer to Encounter God Frequently in Prayer ~
Heavenly Father, let me realize that, like all prayer, prayer of petition is primarily a means of encountering You and being sustained by You. You know what we need because You are a loving Father Who watches over us. Yet You respect our freedom and wait for us to express our needs to You.
Let me have frequent recourse to You in prayer so that I will purify my intentions and bring my wishes into conformity with Your own. Let me pray with fixed formulas as well as in my own words - whether they be long or short.
Above all, let me come before You with a heart moved by Your Spirit and a will ready to conform to Your holy will. Amen.
Traci and/or Laura ~ here's what I will post later regarding prayers.
St. Peregrine
A prayer sent to me by Janet
Healing prayer
Is there any other prayers you guys want to add? Please PM it to me before 2pm (PST) so I can prepare it.
Hugs to All.
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Traci ~
I read your post earlier about not familiar with the BIble. I'm a newbie also and although I was brought up in Catholic schools and stuff, I was not paying attention to it like I should, hence I'm a novice. But now, because I am actively and freely seeking the Catholic Faith, I am starting to read the Bible again. You are right about not understanding the language in the Bible. At first I bought a King James version and didn't understand. With the help of my husband's aunt and my sister-in-law and she had completed the theological seminary that they have guided me to purchase a Catholic Bible NRSV (New Revised Standard Version), I like this NRSV better than the New Amercian Bible. I have borrowed both versions from our public library and found that I like the NRSV better because the wording is more poetic and the translation stayed in the middle ground; whereas the New American Version is lay-oriented Roman Catholic Bible.
I purchase the Catholic Gift Bible NRSV from Amazon and it even has the instruction on how to read the Bible. It talks about Studying individual books of the bible and getting to know the people in the bible. I'm loving it and wish I have more time to read it, but I have a major exam on Oct 19th and haven't studied enough. (shame on me, I've postponed this exam 4 times since I signed up for it in September).
Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe is December 12th.
God Bless us ALL !!
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I was thinking today - I see posts on various boards from women who are Catholic and probably don't know we exist. The forum is kind of buried down a few levels. Do you think we should ask moderators to move it (if they can) under Communities - that way it would show up on the front page of the Index. For example, I see "Muslim women" in that category.
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Janet: That sounds like a good idea! :-)
Apple: Thank you for Mass today. :-)
Paula: That was a lovely prayer. :-)
Traci: I'll write something up tonight after I get my thoughts together. All I'm thinking about right now is my taco pizza. We get pizza from a place in town and call it Cigarette Pizza b/c back in the day when they used to let you smoke in restaurants, we'd pick up our pizza and it tasted like cigarette smoke to me! I wouldn't order from them for a long time. Now they're smoke free but still have the name.
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