May God make your year a happy one!

Not by shielding you from all sorrows and pain, But by strengthening you to bear it, as it comes;
Not by making your path easy, But by making you sturdy to travel any path;
Not by taking hardships from you, But by taking fear from your heart;
Not by granting you unbroken sunshine, But by keeping your face bright, even in the shadows;
Not by making your life always pleasant, But by showing you when people and their causes need you most, and by making you anxious to be there to help.

God’s love, peace, hope and joy to you for the year ahead.

As I look out my window and watch the sunrise over the cornfield; I thank God for richly blessing me with so many gifts…

I pray that for each day in 2010 I don’t take one of His gifts for granted. For I am so richly blessed.

Source: STGJ Newsletter

There’s a popular bumper sticker that reads “God Bless America,” but hasn’t America already been blessed? It’s easy for us to fall into a mindset of viewing “our” world as “the” world, because it’s all we generally see. We’re constantly bombarded with images of the latest styles and models of everything, and it can easily leave us feeling like what we have isn’t enough because we see people that have even more than us. But how does what we have compare to what most people in the world have? Maybe what we have is enough; maybe it’s more than enough. Maybe God has blessed us with everything we have so we can bliss and give to others.

Topics: Blessings, Generosity, Giving, Sharing, Money

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Holy Father,

God of our yesterdays, our today, and our tomorrows. We praise You for Your unequaled greatness. Thank You for the year behind us and for the year ahead. Help us in Your new year, Father, to fret less and laugh more. To teach our children to laugh by laughing with them. To teach others to love by loving them. Knowing, when Love came to the stable in Bethlehem, He came for us. So that Love could be with us, and we could know You. That we could share Love with others.

Help us, Father, to hear Your love song in every sunrise, in the chriping of sparrows in our backyards, in the stories of our old folks, and the fantasies of our children.

Help us to stop and listen to Your love songs, so that we may know You better and better.

We rejoice in the world You loved into being. Thank You for another new year and for new chances every day.

We pray for peace, for light, and for hope, that we might spread them to others. Forgive us for falling short this past year.

We leave the past in your hands, and step out into the unknown new year knowing You will go with us.

We accept Your gift of a new year and we rejoice in what’s ahead, depending on You to help us do exactly what You want..

I say it again, we rejoice!

Come, Holy Spirit, Spirit of God, Spirit of the Risen Christ, Be with us today and always. Be our Light, our Guide, and our Comforter. Be our Strength, our Courage, And our Sanctifier.

May this new year be a time Of deep spiritual growth for us, A time for welcoming Your graces and gifts, A time for forgiving freely and unconditionally, A time for growing in virtue and goodness.

Come, Holy Spirit, Be with us today and always.

In Jesus name, Amen.

Happy New Year 2010 to all

Source: STGJ Newsletter

Intelligence without love makes you perverse.
Fairness & justness without love makes you inflexible & stern.
Diplomacy & tact without love makes you a hypocrite.
Success without love turns you arrogant.
Wealth without love makes you mean & tight–fisted.
Poverty without love turns you into a radical.
Beauty without love makes you capricious.
Authority & power without love lead to tyranny.
Labor without love turns you into a slave.
Naivety without love deprives you of values.
Prayer & worship without love turns you into a egotist.
Faith without love turns you into a fanatic.
Bearing your cross in life without love becomes a terrible burden.
LIFE WITHOUT LOVE LOSES ITS MEANING !

Source: STGJ Newsletter

Sometimes we ask ourselves: What did I do to deserve this? Why does God let these things happen to me? Here is the explanation…

A daughter tells her mother how everything is going wrong for her; She probably failed her Math exam, …Her boyfriend just dumped her… for her best friend.

In times so sad, a good mother knows just the thing to cheer up her daughter… “I make a delicious cake.” In that moment the mother hugged her daughter and walked her to the kitchen, while her daughter attempted to smile. While the mother prepared the utencils and ingredients, her daughter sat across from her at the counter. Her mother asks, “Sweetheart, would you like a piece of cake?” Her daughter replies, “Sure mom, you know how I love cake.”

“Alright…” the mother said, “Drink some of this cooking oil.” Shocked, the daughter responded, “What?!? No way!!!
“How about a couple of raw eggs?” To this the daughter responded, “Are you kidding?”
“How about a little flour?” “No, mom, I’ll be sick!”
The mother responded, “All of these things are uncooked and taste bad, but if you put them together……They make a delicious cake!”

God works the same way. When we ask ourselves why does he make us go through these difficult times, we don’t realize the what/where these events may bring us. Only He knows and he will not let us fall. We don’t need to settle for the raw ingredients, trust in Him… And see something fantastic come about!

God loves us so much… He send us flowers every spring… He makes the sun rise every morning… And anytime you need to talk…He is there to listen!

He can live anywhere in the universe… But He choses to live in your heart!

Source: STGJ Newsletter