Feast of the Holy Family!

Wish I could post the entire sermon we heard today.

I will try to write it as I heard it. If I mess it up - blame me, not Fr. Doug Lorig! He shared something like this:

"In 1979, when I came into the Catholic Church, I had a hard time thinking of The Holy Family (Jesus, Mary and Joseph) as role models for family.

I thought first of all we have the Blessed Virgin Mary who was free of sin her whole life - you men just imagine being married to a woman like that! Then we have Jesus, who is God. He never gave them any trouble and even after the single recorded incident when he was 12 years old, the scriptures tell us that he was 'obedient to them'. Finally we have St. Joseph who scriptures tell us was a 'just man'.

How is a family in our world supposed to hold this family up as a role model to follow?

He then went on to describe how some groups work to strip our American culture of its Judeo-Christian foundation. They're thinking is if we could just be free of this religious rigidity we could create a truly grand culture.

He shared about how a certain government decided it had the best idea for family: It told the people in their nation, 'Have as many children as you can and when they are weaned, give them to the state and we will raise them.' It was a doomed effort to build up the population in that country. After their leader was shot, they entered these 'child-rearing' places only to find many many sick children. 

"The government should never, never try to say what is best for families. Coming back to the Holy Family as role model for us. I was pondering the fact that the Holy Family is made in the image of God. A community of love. They teach us by example to be loving and respectful.

You cannot succeed without those two qualities: Love and Respect.

These days each of our families are touched in some way by divorce - what are we to do? Follow the example of the Holy Family and continue to love and show respect. We are made in the image and likeness of God. If we begin to show one another love and respect, we being to reflect the image of the Holy Family - no matter what we are going through."

Okay - I know I left out several great points - but at least I got the basic message. My apologies to Fr. Doug if I twisted the message too much. You get the basic idea! Keep on climbing that mountain of holiness all you holy families! Don't give up! Ask for every grace available to you through the sacrament of your marriage vows! God wants you to succeed! The world needs to see your example of love and respect for one another! 

Okay, it is late. I know our family is in the midst of taking a break - but I had to sign in and post this on this wonderful Feast Day. What a great way to begin a new year!

Christmas Newsletter

Yesterday I was speaking with a church secretary who

seemed so peaceful. My mother was parish secretary for a number of years in Northern California so I have heard stories from her and other church secretaries all over the country. 

It is almost a miracle to be peaceful - that job is so demanding.

When I asked her how she was remaining so calm

she said, "This year the whole family has agreed that we're donating to charity for Christmas. Our children are grown. We've done this before and each time we do it is a lot more peaceful for us."

In case your December is a blur of activity - keep that in mind for next year!

Last year we put up a Christmas Tree between the front seats in the RV - it helped to be parked at Grandpa and Grandma's house in Oklahoma! This year it looks like we will be staying in Arizona - in an actual house that someone is making available to us while they are out of town.

God bless the others who offered theirs.

Below is a link to the newsletter we sent out just last night. If you did not receive a copy, click below. God bless you. The Poirier family

Holy Family Now! Online Newsletter

1st Merry-Go-Round ride

A Happy Birthday was enjoyed by all.

It was opening night for Christmas Lights at the Railroad Park. A last minute decision and we get all these great memories.

God knows what each of us needs and he must have known our family needed a day like today. In our family 'Birthdays' are treated as 'Birthweeks' because it takes pressure off doing everything in just one day. As it turns out this was such a great day there is really no need to spread it over a week... but we plan to anyway! Happy Advent...

Happy Birthday to Mary!

Join me and the children as we celebrate

their mother's birthday today!

December 13, 2007

Happy Birthday to a real pioneer woman!

The fire that God ignited in her assures us

that even if she lives to 100 and beyond,

she has the kind of heart that keeps someone young forever.

I know my wife and what would bring her the most joy

is knowing she helped in some way to bring another soul

closer to God and his infinite mercy. 

So on the occasion of Mary's birthday I invite you to take a moment

and pray for mercy to flood the hearts of those most in need. 

Invite the mercy of God to transform your own heart, the heart your family, and 

why not every heart across the world? Dream big/Pray big - right?

Lastly, pray for Mary to be blessed today - not just because it is her birthday

but because for as long as I've known here she continues faithfully seeking to know

and do God's will in every aspect of her life. You can imagine how that blesses our family.

That's the kind of woman I get to be married to - thanks be to God!

December 12

The Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe!

Why does this image exist? Why give it attention?

Trust me, I'll get to that! First a bit of background.

When I first saw this image of Mama Mary,

I did not care for it... I had no idea that it is

supernatural in origin.

If you don't know what I am talking about,

hang on for a very amazing ride. Hmmm I wonder

why CNN or USA Today does not do a huge story on this?

Science cannot explain how there is color on this tilma (apron). There is no

trace of pigment or dye in the fibers of the material. It appeared on December 12, 1531 (!)

Older than the Mona Lisa - yet the 'paint' shows no sign of cracking or age.

Cactus fiber usually disintegrates after 15 years - this one shows no sign of decay. For the first 100 years it hung on a wall in the church with candles burning below - yet no soot clouds the colors. Once nitric acid was spilled across the image. Nitric acid would normally have burned through the image but only left a water mark. It survived a bomb blast.

Appearing at a time of cultural turmoil and civil unrest. It sparked the largest number of conversions to the faith than at any other time in the history of Christianity. In the first ten years almost 1 million souls a year converted to the Gospel. That's just like Mama Mary.

So what is the closest thing we can compare it to? The only way we can duplicate the way color is showing up on this tilma would be to project an image onto the cloth. 

Mary is shown standing infront of the sun - showing she is greater than the sun-god worshipped by those who were offering human sacrifice at the time. They converted to the Gospel. Her head is bowed in submission and humility as she prays to her God.

She appears to be about six months pregnant.

There is so much more to share but I wanted to post this early today so you could remember to

ponder Mary's role in preaching the Gospel. She really does magnify God. 

Let her magnify him for you today.

Okay! Family life calls right now, more of the story to come! See you tomorrow.

Hello! 

Our "much needed break" turned out to be, well, not a break. For now let me just say a few of us got the flu bug which delayed our travel plans a few days. While in Oklahoma we got to see family and friends... had a great Thanksgiving... The boys turned 12 and 8, and BIG NEWS: John Paul made his first Holy Communion!

On our way to Arizona we battled wind, rain, hail, and snow... but thanks be to God (and your prayers) we made it safely in time to begin a mission in Glendale, AZ. Thank you!

Today I visited with some teens during their school lunch break. Yesterday the evening news reported that they had a "Lock Down" after a student reported someone on campus with a weapon. This group of Catholic teens organized a "Life Teen Club" so on a regular basis people like me get to visit and talk about God at a public school and it is legal! Way to go teens!

I loved speaking about the Holy Eucharist and singing prayer songs at a public school. So teens across the country - there ARE ways you can live your faith at school without breaking the law. With my "Visitor Badge" on my coffee cup I offer a toast to teens everywhere who are bold enough to live their faith out loud. God bless you and those whose lives you touch.

I'm heading out now to offer the second evening at another parish here in Arizona. Check the concert schedule to see the next evening here in town - and please pray for those who will be gathering tonight. Thank you!