Thank you Mary, you are so kind I am really looking forward to staying and maybe seeing your garden, thank you for your prayers. I was walking back from the beach this morning and met a little baby bird who had left its nest too soon. I picked it up and placed it in the bushes. I hope it makes it. A few months back I listened to a talk from a Coptic monk, Fr Lazarus who said animals can sense how harmful we are, that to go forward in the Spiritual life is to become more and more like Adam and Eve before the Fall, when men and animals were all good friends.
My dear friend who died two years ago and was IMHO a saint was amazing with animals. One-time she was picking apples out in an abandoned field with a friend and a bear approached. ( the friend tells the story) and our friend Annemarie just said to the bear "go on away and come back later. There will be plenty left." The bear ambled away. Truth! Holiness shines through.
Well my last week camping , I am left alone in this campsite as I was when I got here and move on this morning to one in Bally Patrick Forest. I admire line women who do camping alone in these lonely places at night. I have a very large fierce dog with me and am six foot tall but still I am careful.
There was a large crowd at Mass in the little market town of Limavady yesterday. More than many Churches get even on a Sunday. My attention was drawn to a really lovely looking grandmotherly looking lady right across the Church. She reminded me of Barbara Bush. As I looked it was as though she were lit up by a ray of sunshine from above. I was startled to discover that as I stared at her she stared right back at me, across a very large Church. At the end of the rosary after mass doing my Stations of the Cross I discovered she and myself were the only two left in Church. As I left she was still there with her little prayer book clutched praying away. People like this are such an inspiration. Saint hunting is my favourite hobby.
The devil called me , 'El Fanatico', the other day in Church which made me laugh. He was talking about my new regime, now that I am retired of reading a chapter of the Bible, the rosary and the Stations of the Cross after Mass each day. He pointed out since I am regularly the only one left in Church each day I am going way over the top and am become a total fanatic and should ease up. Hence the, 'El Fanatico'. This was a huge compliment really and the name itself is funny. It reminds me so much of the Christeros in Mexico who died in suge huge numbers under a Masonic Government. They died with the words, Vive Christ the King on their lips. The Church I was praying in when the devil called me El Fanatico is called Christ the King.
It is the little things. It was so hot and sunny yesterday walking through the forest yesterday that I took my t shirt of for an hour or two. When I woke up this morning I discovered my skin all brown and red apart from a very white Cross over my heart. Engrave your Cross on my heart oh Lord and my the though of they passion never be far from my thoughts
If we don't see God in the tiny little forgotten things, how will we ever see them in the great. God is everywhere , even perched there, like a little bird, roosting and singing and smiling, right there on the end of our nose.
Well my caravan fridge has given up in the warm weather so I am returning home today after nearly four weeks. Anyway I am a little bit home sick. It will be wonderful to go through my own front door again. Did I learn anything spiritually from my time camping? The other night I was praying to God to explain something to me and noted there was a total silence. I had the urge then to pick God up by the throat and give Him a good shaking to make Him talk. But there is never anything wrong with God's hearing. It is our hearing that is faulty. God talks even in silence. I will have to remember this. I get impatient with this sometimes.
Thank you. I got home yesterday and one of my neighbours came out to welcome me home. He said a lot of my plants had died in the heat but that he had started watering the rest. So kind of him! Another neighbour welcomed me back and said he missed me around the place. I will be out today watering like crazy. Maybe a trip up to the garden centre for more plants.
The little gas light was on in the fridge, the gas burning but the fridge was not getting cold. I checked on line and found this was very dangerous as it could cause carbon dioxide poisoning. The caravan has not been serviced since 2017 and you are supposed to get it serviced ever year. So I took a hint and decided to go home at once and get it serviced before using it anymore. You never know.
The weather is very hot in the city,even this early in the summer. This always causes trouble, people party, drink a lot and take to the streets. I think the heat can also cause bad tempers. I saw a video from a few days ago of men and women, lots and lots of men and women in a nearby street basically beating the heck out of each other, covered in blood, rolling about on the ground. A society that turns from God will turn on itself.
Just catching up on this thread. We love camping but have not been up to it health wise yet. Hopefully. I have added all the names to my daily prayer list. I love looking for Saints, Angels at Mass and see them often. Did I mention I saw Jesus at Mass one morning during Lent? Just before the Priest processed to the altar Jesus came up the aisle and was so jubilant! He was calling out to various people in the congregation their names and what He loved about them. Such as Jim who loves music etc. When He looked at me He said Kathy! Who is devoted to My Holy Face! It all happened so fast and surprised me. When I got home I wrote it down so I wouldn’t forget any detail. I am still pondering that encounter. We are being so tested right now. Have had two major choices in the last week that are evident of separating the good from ungood. No place like home though. We are in a drought now no rain for three weeks and none in sight. Doing due diligence on watering our little garden. I’ve been creating a little flower garden around the statue of our Blessed Mother, put a rose bush behind her so it looks like a cape. Have lilies of the valley and seedum in front for ground cover and will add pots of color when those fill in. My little holy garden where I love to say my rosary. ❤️❤️
At Christ Our Light parish in Pulaski, NY, they have very beautiful Stations with vivid colors. When I'm sitting during the Old Testament and epistle readings at Holy Mass, my line-of-sight zeros in on Jesus being nailed to the Cross every time. It truly enhances my ability to focus both on Our Lord and the readings.
I have lillies of the Valley, I love them, they remind me of St Joseph. When I came home I poured two buckets of water over them hoping to revive them, they looked like they had been in the desert for a year. I don't know Seedum, I will look them up. Planted some busy lizzies and marigolds there now. A lovely vision of Jesus. Sad in our times people will not talk of such things. If we talk of such things these days its one flew over the cuckoos nest time. While I was up at the store there was a gentleman in his seventies complaining about having to share the store with Catholics, he said in his day we would all have been strong up by our necks from Lamp Posts for doing such a thing. That this was a Protestant store and who was allowing the Catholics in? There was a crowd of about 15 people around him laughing and cheering him on. I thought silently to myself (I was thinking, 'Lamp posts)', you're in your 70's and will soon be at the Judgement Seat of God, it's way past time to lay aside such hate. Such is my home city of Belfast in the summer. It is going to be a hot, hot violent summer, I can feel it coming on.
