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Some time ago I posted a blog about an experience we had as a ministry when we went to lease space. Though the leasing agent was fully aware of our operations, he did not tell me about a clause in the lease contract -- until it was time for me to sign the lease. The clause prohibited any tenant who provided religious services including Christian, Jewish, Muslim.

While we do not provide religious services for the general public in terms of liturgical celebration, our entire mission is oriented to providing a service for religion -- the production of Catholic radio and television programming, the distribution of relgious products, and an apostloate for Catholic women.

When I questioned if this mission disqualified us as tenants, the agent's comment was, "Just don't tell anybody." Clearly, he was eager for a tenant and clearly the lease precluded us. I asked him to check with his legal department. He called me back and told me that "he would have to pass on this one."

There are those that would say "persecution" is too strong a term to be used to describe this event. However, I disagree. The language was broad enough to exclude any operation that did anything religious -- a religious goods store, a religious social service agency, a store-front church, an apostolic outreach. Religion was opted out.

Religious persecution, especially of Christians, and Catholics in particular, is becoming commonplace. So much so that the Vatican has announced the need for an international day against Christian persecution. I agree.

Read the article below and let me know what you think.

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/vaticans-idea-for-day-against-christian-persecution-draws-praise/

 

 

 

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Today on our radio program, Women of Grace Live, I shared a reading from a very old prayer book called Hail Holy Queen in a section called Counsels and Maxims. The prayer book was published in New York by P.J. Kenedy & Sons in 1928 with an Imprimatur by Patrick Cardinal Hayes, Archbishop of New York, on August 21 of that same year. The subtitle tells us it is A Book Of Prayer and Counsel For Catholic Girls And Women.

Though the writing hearkens back to an earlier day and time, the wisdom is everlasting. I am offering it to you for your consideration and prayerful meditation. To hear my comments about it as well as another reading from this gem of a book, go to www.womenofgrace.com and click on Podcasts. It is number WGL 1269.

Zeal, Industry

A Girl's character can be pretty well judged by knowing what she does with her spare time.

The piety of a good girl will manifest itself not only in attending devotions, but, when necessary, in being willing to do her share in parish activities.

The Blessed Virgin was not afraid of spoiling her hands by doing household work, although she belonged to the royal family of David and was God's most favored creature.

You may think you are able to take care of a husband's home; but you are not, unless you are able to take your mother's place in the work of your own home.

Those who dislike work in all its forms and phases, and who yield to their indolent disposition are like barren fig-trees, useless to themselves, to God and to man, fit only for the ax and the fire.

If the time that is wasted in useless or dangerous talking and reading, or in unnecessary rest and recreation, were devoted to the service of God and the salvation of souls, the whole world would be converted.

For the encouragement of those whose life is a daily grind of routine work, it should be remembered, first, that the world depends on patient faithfulness to such tasks; next, that the expert performance of simpler duties always fits one for higher and more responsible posts; and finally, that in the sight of God, and as far as our eternal reward is concerned, it is not what we do, so much as the intention with which we work that counts.

The obligations of justice should be discharged before generosity is indulged in. Therefore the satisfaction of debts and the performance of duties to those dependent upon us take precedence over the giving of alms to optional charities.

It is said that you can catch a thief, but that you cannot catch a liar; but for liars is reserved hell fire, as St. John warns in Rev. 21:8.

It is most useful to cultivate the friendship and companionship of other good girls, whose virtuous example and conversation will be an inspiration to higher and nobler life. "He that walketh with the wise shall be wise; a friend of fools shall become like to them." -- Prov. 13:20.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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My special family friend has taught elementary school for over 30 years, most of those years with five year old kindergarteners. Through the years, she has witnessed a changing demographic. Not only are her classes more culturally, ethnically, and religiously diverse, but the lifestyles and home lives of her children have experienced a demographic shift as well -- not for the better.

Currently, my friend has 14 students in her class. Of the 14 only  2 do not have at least one parent incarcerated. Two of her students are half-sisters, but they don't know it -- Dad impregnated two women at the same time. He's not been around for either of them. And this dear person has had to call social service agencies any number of times since September because of dangerous information her children have told her.

Lest you think she teaches in an inner-city school, think again. She teaches in a neighborhood school in a suburb of a rather smallish resort city.

One of the challenges this special teacher faces is that few if any of her students have any real concept of right or wrong, socially acceptable behavior, moral truth. They've witnessed in five years more than most adults see in a lifetime. Good example? Please. Their solution to problem-solving is to throw things, have a temper tantrum or defecate. They've done it all in her classroom.

But, my family friend runs a tight ship. These babies come in spouting four letter words that would curl your hair and leave her class at the end of the school year reading, writing, doing math, and --yep -- practicing manners.

It's a transformation really. And this caring woman digs deep to help it happen. She hugs these babies, rocks them in a rocking chair, tells them how precious they are, rewards them when they follow through, and corrects them (sternly) when they do wrong.

And -- she has Jiminy Cricket.

In the public school system, she can't really talk about her Faith. She can't mention Jesus, His saving act, or the eternal realities. It's tough to help form a good conscience when situational ethics and political correctness legally prevail.

But, she can teach them the natural law. And Walt Disney is her aide with his katydid-like insect, Jiminy Cricket. You may recall that Jiminy is Pinocchio's alter-ego, his conscience. He shows up to inform  the marionette of what he should and should not do. When Pinocchio listens to Jiminy, good things happen. And when he doesn't -- well, a heap of trouble follows.

My family friend tells her little ones the story and let's them know they each have a "Jiminy Cricket". She tells them their Jiminy is the little voice they hear inside that tells them right from wrong. With repetition, good effort, and reinforcement, they get it. They begin to heed the law God  has written on their heart.

Eventually, she tells them Jiminy has another name. "Conscience". And they need to pay attention to their Conscience. Though the challenges remain, progress begins to happen. And a school year closes with more success than failure.

The kids are boomerangs, though. They move on to first, second, third grade, but they keep coming back to my friend's classroom. They come for a morning hug, a treat, to hear a kind word, to talk about a problem, to help her set up for the day. They sing out her name in the cafeteria, flock to her after school, blow kisses to her when they see her: all the return of her investment and their good "Jiminy."

These kids were born with strikes against them. Who knows how their futures will pan out. It will take heroic effort and courage for many of them to make it out of their environments.

But, they have experienced a teacher who has loved them, taken the time to show it, and has given them something for the long haul in addition to reading and math: the foundation for a well-formed conscience. And with that, they have a chance to really grow sturdy and strong.

We need more people like her -- and far more "Jiminys" as well.

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The skincare industry can be kinda overwhelming, which is why we’re (always) here to help. And we totally understand your dilemma; with literally hundreds of innovative products being released each week and the discovery of another “must-have” ingredient, it can be hard to determine what products you really need and what’s just a trend. To guide you through the beauty-jargon on your quest for happy, healthy skin, here are  tips that cover ALL the bases.

Keep your hair happy and healthy all summer long using these natural, chemical-free methods.

Natural hair rules in the summer! Now is the season to let go of perfect, sleek hairdos and embrace that loose, natural look. Learn how to protect your hair from the heat, sun, and humidity without turning it into an endless battle.

1. Cover up!

Use a scarf or hat to cover your head when you’re out in the sun. Not only does this provide extra UV protection, but it also helps your scalp to retain moisture. A hat reduces damage caused by wind, especially if your hair is prone to tangling, and protects colour-treated hair.

2. Put your hair up in loose, comfortable styles

A messy braid is ideal for keeping your hair under control and minimizing exposure to the sun. Tight hairstyles can be damaging because they tend to pull and tear hair, especially if your hair is dry from the summer heat. Extensions are design to make your hair long, checkout these Kinky curly bundles of human hair.

3. Wash less often

Frequent washing strips your scalp of its natural oils, which in turn stimulates additional oil production and makes you feel the need to wash it even more. Try just rinsing in the shower after a day at the beach or pool, and see if that gets rid of some extra oil. Use a homemade or natural dry shampoo, such as cornstarch, in place of regular shampoo to go a bit longer without washing. Another quick fix is to dab a cotton ball soaked in witch hazel along your scalp to dissolve excess oil.

4. Reduce the heat

Try to blow-dry your hair as little as possible. It is already exposed to a significant amount of heat on a daily basis in the summer, and it will probably air-dry quickly anyways, so give the blow dryer a break and go au naturel if you can. Avoid flat-irons, too, as they will do further damage to already-dry hair. Plus, a sleek hairstyle only makes that frizz stand out more.

5. Spritz & Seal

Make a concoction of water, aloe vera juice, and avocado oil. Keep it on hand to spritz whenever a bit of moisture and/or control is needed. Another good option is argan oil mixed with water.

6. Condition always

Rinse with apple cider vinegar diluted in water for a quick natural conditioner. Use some coconut oil or shea butter (careful with this, since it can be heavy) to smooth, de-frizz, and moisturize your locks after washing. The oil will give some shine and, if you have wavy hair, create natural, air-dried curls. Try a natural deep conditioning treatment once a week to get that extra bit of moisture into your hair.

SkinCare

1.  Get to know your skin type

Understanding and getting to know your skin type is the most important thing you can do for your skin. If you’re unaware or misinformed, you could compromise your skin’s natural balance and trigger irritation, inflammation, breakouts, and even premature aging by using the wrong products. The most common skin types are oily, acne-prone, dry, sensitive, and mature skin; it’s also important to note that you can be more than one type and it can change over time or through the seasons, so always listen to your skin.

2. Make sure you know how to layer your skincare

If you don’t apply your skincare products in the right order you could prevent them from being fully-absorbed, which means they won’t be as effective. The general rule is to apply the most lightweight formulas first so they can be easily absorbed without the barrier of heavier creams. To avoid piling (those tiny little balls you get when you’ve used too much product), when you move onto thicker creams, give your skin time to absorb the product (at least a few minutes).

 

3. Don’t apply too much product

When it comes to skincare, ‘more is more’ is not a good rule. So if you apply too much moisturizer, the product will likely pill or could potentially block your pores. Plus, it’s a total waste of product and your money considering your skin won’t be able to absorb it all anyway! Make sure you follow this sizing guide:

4. Always double cleanse

Double cleansing is our fave K-beauty hack, and it’s completely transformed our skin. By cleansing twice, you’ll ensure all the dirt, bacteria, oil and pollution that’s built up on your skin during the day has been removed, leaving you with a thoroughly clean base for you to layer your nighttime skincare routine onto.

5. Never forget to do a patch test

Before you start using a new product, you should always do a patch test to avoid the risk of irritation or an allergic reaction. Just apply a small amount of product to your inner arm to see how your skin reacts to the formula.

6. Don’t use expired products

Hanging onto products past their expiry dates is a big no-no: It’s bad for you. Sadly, your beloved beauty products harbor bacteria (especially if you use them frequently), and these can lead to infections and irritations, not to mention, they don’t perform as well – we’re talking to you, gunky mascara! After a while, products can produce harmful toxins that can be dangerous to your health as well as your skin. As a general rule, if you can’t remember when you bought your face cream, SPF, foundation, mascara or eyeliner – get rid of it!

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The Advent Season is upon us, and the call is to "watch and pray." One way to make fruitful this time of holy anticipation is to prepare the manger of our heart for the coming of our Lord and King.

To that end, let me recommend a couple of great resources we have available for you. On the Women of Grace homepage (www.womenofgrace.com) we are featuring two Advent retreats on CD -- one by Dr. Edward Sri and the other by Father Edmund Sylvia. Both of these offerings will take you deeply into the heart of the season and fill you with wonder at the gift that is ours through the Christ Child

Another great resource certain to enhance your Advent experience is Issue #4 of the Women of Grace Journal.  You can use this independently and it is a fabulous Advent study for your Women of Grace study group. It truly encourages us to enter deeply into the reality of this blessed season by calling us into the sacred mysteries of our Faith. For those of you who are Gold Members of WOG Exclusive, it is available in the library. Simply type "Women of Grace Journal" into the search feature and scroll to Issue #4. It is also available in print and can be ordered through our on-line store or by calling us at 1-800-558-5452.

I am confident that if we enter into this glorious liturgical season and let it enter into us by means of prayer and retreat, Christmas Day will be a graced event like never before.

Let's remember each other in our petitions and ask God to give us all holy anticipation for the coming of our Savior.

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Earlier this week I was in Houston visiting my daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren.  I attended my third annual Grandparents Day at my granddaughter's school. It is a lovely affair that begins with a breakfast, followed by entertainment courtesy of the music department, and concluding with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Carmen and I look foward to it every year and it is becoming a sweet tradition we share.

One of the great blessings in my life is being a grandparent. These little ones teach me so much. Take Carmen, for example. She became a big sister on May 1 when her baby brother, Matthew Anthony, was born. I have seen so many beautiful qualities developing in her since that time. Virtues, really.

Carmen treats Matthew with patience, kindness, thoughtfulness. Much to his delight, she gleefully rushes to him when she sees him after school. She plays with him, dotes on him, and tells everyone she meets that he is her baby brother. Plain and simple, she loves him.

Frankly, I wondered how Carmen would handle his arrival. She had been an only child for five years and very accustomed to Mommy's and Daddy's full attention. I've witnessed other situations where older only children have not been very welcoming to a new sibling. But, Matthew's birth has enriched her personhood and enhanced her lovely feminine graces.

Change can do that. It holds the possibility for us to expand as persons, grow in virtue, develop as individuals. Change can help us discover character strengths we never knew we had and bring to the surface latent talents and gifts. I suppose it really depends on attitude and openness of heart: an attitude of gratitude for that which God is entrusting to us, and an openness of heart  to explore the opportunities the change may hold.

I don't think Carmen thought about any of these things when she learned she was going to become a big sister. With childlike simplicity, she simply embraced the idea.

This has taught me a lot. And given me pause for reflection. Maybe you, too. To what extent do I embrace change with an attitude of gratitude and with openness of heart? I know one thing -- I will be thinking of Carmen the next time a change comes my way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Plurism entered my daughter's car the other day as she drove my six year old granddaughter to school. After hearing some especially disheartening news on the radio, my daughter turned to Julia and said, "Julia, you are growing up in a very difficult world. Keep Jesus in front of you and stay the course."

Julia chewed on these words for a moment and then she said, "Mommy, I know. __________ told me that she doesn't believe in God. She told me her mommy told her God was a monkey."

"Julia, that's too bad, isn't it? We know there is a God and He is no monkey!" responded my daughter.

"I know that!" Julia retorted. "He's a Lamb!"

While this story shows us that Julia has given attention to the Agnus Dei we pray at Mass, and has obviouly given attention, too, to the stained glass window in our Church depicting the Lamb of God, none of this innoculates her against the winds of heresy that blow all too liberally in our culture today.

It also points out the false ideologies many of our children's playmates and classmates are being taught in their homes. One can only wonder at the world they will experience in their adult years.

What are we to do? I think my daughter gives us good example. Make certain our children know the truth. Continue to use every opportunity to tell them the truth (Rom. 10:17). Reinforce that truth. Make them present to the truth by participation in the Faith. Exemplify the truth in your own life. Finally, but preeminently, entrust them to the One Who is the Truth --  and the Way and the Life as well.

If we are willing to do so, deep roots will grow and truth will flourish in our children's hearts. I know this to be true. Those words of advice my daughter gave to her daughter were the very words her father had given her throughout the 26 years of her life that he had lived. Apparently, they had sunk in and were being passed on to the next generation. As Proverbs reminds us, "Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it" (Proverbs 22:6).

A monkey. Really? Even a monkey would be shocked.

 

 

 

 

 

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Gabriel Sullivan, age 8, came home from school with a freshly completed art project -- a paper dinosaur.

But this was no ordinary dinosaur.

This paper dinosaur stood on its own with the help of a special aid rigged by Gabriel himself. He had glued his green creature to the cardboard core of a roll of toilet paper to make his antediluvian reptile stand erect.

And Gabriel loved his dinosaur.

According to his father, Tom Sullivan, Gabriel carried his dinosaur with him everywhere. He placed it on the floor when he was playing. He sat it on the table when he was eating. He even perched it on the back of the couch to have it near while he watched his favorite show and he treated it to a trip to the restaurant when the family went out to dinner.

Dad Tom asked Gabriel what it was that so attracted him to his dinosaur. Gabriel simply responded, " I made it."

I loved Gabriel's answer. It brought a smile to my face and joy to my heart. It made me think of God.

Like Gabriel, God's eyes are always upon us (Psalm 33:18; Deut. 11:12). We are never out of His sight. We are the "apple of his eye" (Psalm 17:8, Deut. 32:10), the center of His vision.

I am thinking if we asked our Heavenly Father why he keeps us in His gaze, His answer would be the same as Gabriel's: "I made you," He would say.

And then He would add "... and I love you; you are mine (Jer. 31:3)."

 

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Hello Dear Friends,

Father Edmund Sylvia, C.S.C., Tom Sullivan, and myself are at EWTN this week taping programs for Women of Grace. I sure do welcome your prayers for us. We have quite a full week with a wonderful group of guests joining us. The programs we are producing are riveting, many of which deal with cultural issues as well as the relationship(s) between men and women. As Catholics, our call is to restore the temporal order. Our goal is to do just that and help you to do so as well. May all of us work together to bring Jesus Christ to the world!

Blessings,

Johnnette

 

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Novena to Our Lady Undoer of Knots:

www.theholyrosary.org

Click on "Novena Mary Undoer of Knots"

Masses for Your Intentions:

www.SpiritualTreasury.com

For Your Prayer Requests:

www.womenofgraceplace.com

Click on "Communities" under Quick Links

 

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