Pray for the Outcast and Abandoned

A reoccurring thing that I see at my school is that many kids are left out. Kids are picked on a lot. They are teased and made fun of, and also in some cases ignored. These kids end up being left out of many things. When they try to make friends or talk to someone, they are just downright ignored. Many people in my school only want to hangout with people who are like them or are cool. They don't want to be caught dead with someone that others consider, uncool, nerdy, stupid and even ugly.

This is situation at my school and many others all over the world, has been around since Jesus' time. In fact a good example of this is Jesus healing the lepers! The lepers were the outcasts. They were considered ugly, dirty, filthy and stinky. They were driven out of the city. They were ignore and made fun of when they came to the city or the gate. However, Jesus looked passed this! He befriended them! He healed them! He accepted them!

This is exactly what we are supposed to do! We are called to respect everyone and accept everyone! We are called to be Christ for others! Christ accepted everyone that was different, so why shouldn't we?!!! God calls us to love our neighbor! What some people wonder is "who is my neighbor?" God's answer to this is.....Everyone! We must love everyone, just as God loves everyone, no matter how dirty or uncool they are! We have love the same!

Another good example of how we should love one another is St. Peter Claver! He became a missionary and teacher to the slaves imported. They needed friends! They needed someone to feel their pain with them! They needed someone to love them!St. Peter is a great model for us in this situation! We must love one another also!

This prayer was taken from Common Catholic Prayers.com. This prayer is for all who suffer rejection and are outcast.

For Those Who Suffer



For those who suffer,

and those who cry this night,

give them repose, Lord;

a pause in their burdens.

Let there be minutes

where they experience peace,

not of man

but of angels.

Love them, Lord,

when others cannot.

Hold them, Lord,

when we fail with human arms.

Hear their prayers

and give them the ability to hear You back

in whatever language they best understand.

Amen

We are in one in Christ! :)

Yesterday was my school's " Welcome Back" all-school mass! One of the readings that particularly interested me was from St. Paul's letter to the Corinthians. In this reading, St. Paul talks about how we are called to be "one body in Christ." Then St. Paul goes on to say, If one part of the body is injured, the whole body suffers. This is so true for us in today's world, especially while in the middle of President Obama's term. President Obama is not leading us in the way of Christ. In fact, he is leading us in the opposite direction.

President Obama is just one part of our body, but if one body part is injured, the whole body is injured! Therefore we must pray for him that he realizes what he is doing, and then leads us back to the way of Christ. As one nation we must stand together and united, and this means that when one separates, we should all help that one part come back to the way of truth!There is a quote that I think is perfect for this post. " Together we are one, separate we are none!" This is so true! We must stand be one! So in conclusion of this post, I want to post a prayer that my friend Judy at BENMAKESTEN sent me the link to! This prayer is entitled Catholic Prayer for the Nation taken from Catholic Online

Catholic Prayer for our Nation

God our Father,
Giver of life,
we entrust the United States of America to Your loving
care.

You are the rock on which this nation was founded.
You alone are the true source of our cherished rights to
life,
liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Reclaim this land for Your glory and dwell among Your
people.

Send Your Spirit to touch the hearts of our nation´s
leaders.
Open their minds to the great worth of human life
and the responsibilities that accompany human freedom.
Remind Your people that true happiness is rooted in
seeking
and doing Your will.

Through the intercession of Mary Immaculate,
Patroness of our land,
grant us the courage to reject the "culture of death."
Lead us into a new millennium of life.
We ask this through Christ Our Lord.

Amen.

Thank you! :)

First day of school recap! :)

Well the first day of school was much better then I expected! In fact it was great! I got to see all of my old friends and make a lot of new ones as well! My classes this year are so different compared to last year, not to mention harder! ;) Then again it is only the first day, so I'm sure I will learn to love them! :) Thanks be to God!

This year, my English teacher is having all of us start blogs! Since I already have this blog, my teacher told me that I could just add this one to my account. Although this new blog is strictly for English class, my profile for writings of a boy discerning God's call pops up. This creates a problem for me because I will have to get up in front of the class and present my blog to my classmates. I have not let any of my classmates know about my desire to be a priest because of the great deal of teasing I endured, so I'm feeling kind of apprehensive. I don't know what my friends and classmates will think about it. I guess what I need to do is not feel ashamed of my vocation, pray and know that God will be with me no matter what! :)

This prayer was taken from the Catholic Youth Website-


Prayer for Vocations to the Priesthood

Most merciful Jesus, who didst bid us pray the Lord of the harvest to send laborers into his harvest, on bended knees, we beseech Thee to send down the Holy Spirit on the Christian youth of our land to inspire them with the spirit of sacrifice, to give them courage to leave all to follow Thee.

Spirit of piety, arouse in them zeal for souls; O Spirit of fortitude, give them strength to break all earthly bonds; O Spirit of counsel, guide them into the priesthood; O Spirit of knowledge, make them realize the truth of the words of the Holy Scripture: “He who causeth a sinner to be converted from the error of his way, shall save his soul from death, and shall cover a multitude of sins”; O Spirit of wisdom, point out to them the vanity of the world and the nobility of Thy service.

Amen.

Thank you! :)

Back to School Tomorrow :(

Here it is, the most dreaded day of the year has finally arrived. I attend St. Thomas More High School. We begin and end the year early, so it has its ups and downs! I just want to ask everyone who reads this post, to pray for me that use the talents that God has given me, to do my very best throughout this year!

This prayer was taken from Catholic Youth Online. Please feel free to join in with me! :)


O Lord God and Heavenly Father, bestow upon us the gift of Your Holy Spirit, that enlightened by Him, we may understand aright and may keep in mind all that we may learn, and may both begin and end all things well, to Thy glory, and in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.



Thank you! :)

Loyal Friend and Visitor Award! :)

My friend Karinann at Daughter of the King has awarded me as a loyal friend and visitor on her blog! Thank you again Karinann! :)
So I would like to give my own " Loyal Friend and Visitor Award " to Brian from A Book about Everything. Brian writes such beautiful and inspiring posts and helps encourage me to continue blogging! Please feel free to visit his blog and keep him in your prayers! Thank you so much for visiting my blog everyone! :)

Also, I would like to add a big thank you to Esther from Catholic Mom in Hawaii for giving me the loyal friend and visitor award as well! God Bless You!

Driving! :) ( Jesus take the wheel)

Last week was my last class of drivers ed! So this means I get to start driving with my temporary license! Yay! My Mom and my Dad have taken me out driving everyday the past two weeks! I am constantly learning more and more each day!

The song " Jesus take the Wheel" by Carrie Underwood is perfect for me right now and I often pray this! These words give me comfort and they ease my nerves!
These words should give all of us comfort because we need Jesus to take the wheel in all of our lives, but not just during driving. We ask Jesus to take the wheel during our many struggles and storms that we deal with everyday. He always hears and answers our prayer.

Please pray for me each day as I go practice driving! I will pray for you also so that Jesus " takes the wheel" and helps you overcome whatever struggles and trials you go through! :)

God Bless!

Spreading God Word!

In this post I would like to place a very quick lyric from one of my favorite songs! The song is entitled " The secrets in telling " by Dashboard Confessional! Here are my favorite lyrics from the song!-


" There is a secret that we keep
I won't sleep if you won't sleep
Because tonight may be the last chance we'll be given
We are compelled to do what we have to
We are compelled to do what we have been forbidden"

I decided to post these lyrics because I think they truly reflect on what we feel compelled to do with our lives, that the world does not want us to do. From my prospective, this song is talking about our mission as Christians, although I don't think this is the songs true subject. I think this song is talking about praising, worshiping, and loving God, and preaching His good news! However, as these lyrics state, the world forbids us to be close to God and to preach His word to the world!
However, God pulls us closer to Himself every time we begin to fall away from His side. God is like a magnet! No matter how far we fall, we still are attracted to Him and so we are bursting, itching and urging to tell the whole world that we become compelled to telling everyone about Him by living the way He wants us to! We become compelled to God, and doing His will! We should all be like this! We should all be compelled and attracted to God, like a new born baby is to its mother! So we should as God to help us become attracted to Him, and not to the world! We should ask Him for the strength to deny the world, and preach what it forbids, which is Gods word!

Please pray this prayer with me for strength to resist the world, and live for God-

Eternal Father,

Help us to be your servants, and to do what you ask of us, even if the world forbids it! Give us the strength and the courage to place our trust in you. Help us to open ourselves and allow Yourself into our hearts, so that we feel the need to share this with the whole world! Lord attract us to yourself, and take us from the world!

We ask this in your name!


Amen!

Doing things for God's glory alone!

I recently attended an all-night vigil with my mom at St. Francis Seminary. The many events at this vigil were; mass, adoration, an outdoor procession and a chance to listen to speakers talking about vocations! The rector of the seminary, Fr. Don Hying, gave a beautiful homily! Since this vigil landed on the feast day of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, Fr. Don incorporated one of his quotes, " Only for God's glory," into it. I think that this is a perfect quote to live by. So many times in our lives, we do things for ourselves. We begin to forget the real reason why we do things in our lives. Sometimes we begin to do things just to gain attention, to get publicity and popularity.

We must remember that we are to be doing things not for ourselves, but for God! We must give praise to God in what ever we do. We must do things, so that when others see them, they see God's good gifts that He has given us! We must remember who gave us our gifts and oppurtunities to use them for giving Him glory! :)