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Saturday, August 4, 2012

#331 - Wise

In Canada, there used to be a children's program called Mr. Dressup. It had a character called The Wise Old Owl. It's funny how things like that stick with you. I woke up thinking about The Wise Old Owl this morning and I thought that it would make an interesting prompt. To make it easier, I have shortened the prompt to wise, but if you feel like it, you could write on The Wise Old Owl and see what comes up.

Happy Scribbling!

Week #219 Susie's DT Week with Kenny K Downloads.

Good Morning all Its my turn {Susie} to host the sketch at Sketch Saturday this week and

Kenny K Downloads has kindly agreed to be our sponsor .

Kenny K Digi and Rubber stamps are a fun and edgy way to add the perfect dose of attitude and style to all of your creations!

The Creator, the artist, the man: KennyK is a NYC born professional illustrator who bought his funky-but-slick, urban-influenced look to the cardmaking and papercrafts world His signature style can be seen throughout his various collections of sexy pin-up babes, sweet 'n' sassy girls, cool rocking dudes, kids stuff, retro characters and more at KennyK Downloads

This week the prize from Kenny is the winner's choice of 5 digi stamps

So here's my sketch, flip it rotate it and embellish it as you like but have fun!

(Jen has made it so pretty for me! xx)

Our Guest Designer this month is one of my oldest Blogging Buddies

and pretty much a Superstar amongst card crafter's

Friday, August 3, 2012

Winner of #218.

Good Morning to you all. The winner of Sketch #218 sponsored by

The Craft Barn is.......................

# 57 Andie

with this super sparkly card.

Congratulations!!

Please leave a comment here and email Susie at susielittle@ymail.com

for details of how to claim your prize from The Craft Barn

Welcome

Hello again. Well, here it is August. School is starting in many places. Here in our area it won't be too long before people who have gone to cooler climates for the summer will be coming back to the desert and many from cold areas will be coming here for the winter. We're always happy to have the "snow birds" as they are called. But I guess I'm getting a little ahead of myself. Actually it is

Thursday, August 2, 2012

A Foggy Feast

I personally really like it when it is foggy on Papa Stronsay. There is a real feeling of peace and of monastic isolation. Therefore I was not at all upset when I left my cell this morning to find that on the feast of Our Holy Father Saint Alphonsus, he had sent us some fog for the occasion! While it was not so bad this morning, as I write this we are completely cut of visually even from the neighbouring island of Stronsay...I can barely even see the sea! Here are some photos of our crossing to Stronsay this morning for sung Mass.

Making the crossing from Papa Stronsay to Stronsay for Mass.

The Stronsay village of Whitehall where our chapel is.

Arrived at the Stronsay pier. The Brothers ascend the pier steps.

Looking back towards Papa Stronsay, which risks being swallowed up by the mist.

"The chalice of benediction, which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ?...

...And the bread, which we break, is it not the partaking of the body of the Lord?" 1 Cor 10:16

"In him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it." John 1:4-5

Papa Stronsay as it looks while I write this post. The Fog has really come in.

Standing almost on the water's edge you can only just make out the pier with our boat.

And out towards nearby Stronsay...nothing.

Lovely

St Alphonsus and Prayer - Pope Benedict XVI, yesterday.

ON PRAYER

ACCORDING TO ST. ALPHONSUS LIGUORI

"He who prays is saved. He who prays not is damned!"

Only yesterday.

The Holy Father spoke about St Alphonsus for his feast day.

Dear brothers and sisters!

Today marks the liturgical memorial of St. Alphonsus Maria de' Liguori, bishop and doctor of the Church, founder of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer -- the Redemptorists -- patron saint of scholars and moral theology and of confessors. St. Alphonsus is one of the most popular saints of the 18th century because of his simple, straightforward style and his teaching on the sacrament of Penance: In a period of great rigorism -- the result of the influence of Jansenism -- he recommended to confessors to administer this sacrament by revealing the joyous embrace of God the Father, who in His infinite mercy never tires of welcoming back the repentant son.

Today's memorial offers us the occasion to consider St. Alphonsus' teachings on prayer, which are extremely valuable and filled with spiritual inspiration. He considered his treatise, Prayer: The Great Means of Salvation and of Perfection, which dates back to 1759, to be the most useful of all his writings.

In fact, he there describes prayer as

"the necessary and sure means of obtaining salvation,

and all the graces we need to attain it"

(Introduction).

Only yesterday the Pope said:

"He who prays is certain to be saved.

He who prays not is damned".

This sentence sums up the Alphonsian understanding of prayer. First, in saying that it is a means, he reminds us of the end to be attained: God created out of love in order to be able to give us the fullness of life; but because of sin, this goal, this abundance of life has, so to say, drifted away -- we all know this -- and only God's grace can make it available. To explain this basic truth, and to enable us to understand in a straightforward way how real the risk is of man's "being lost," St. Alphonsus coined a famous, very elementary maxim, which states:

"He who prays is saved. He who prays not is damned!"

Commenting on this lapidary statement, he added: "To save one's soul without prayer is most difficult, and even impossible … but by praying our salvation is made secure, and very easy" (Chapter II, Conclusion). And he goes on to say:

"If we do not pray, we have no excuse,

for the grace of prayer is given to everyone …

if we are not saved,

the whole fault will be ours, because we did not pray" (ibid.).

In saying that prayer is a necessary means, St. Alphonsus wanted us to understand that in every situation in life, we cannot manage without praying, especially in times of trial and difficulty. We must always knock at the Lord's door with trust, knowing that in all things He takes care of His children, of us. We are invited, therefore, not to be afraid of turning to Him and of presenting our requests to Him with trust, in the certainty of obtaining what we need.

Dear friends, this is the central question: What is truly necessary in my life? With St. Alphonsus I respond: "Health and all the graces we need for this" (ibid.); naturally, he means not only bodily health, but above all also that of the soul, which Jesus gives to us. More than anything else, we need His liberating presence, which truly makes our lives fully human and therefore full of joy. And it is only through prayer that we are able to welcome Him and His grace, which by enlightening us in each situation, enables us to discern the true good, and by strengthening us, makes our will effective; that is, it enables it to do the good that is known. Often we recognize the good, but we are unable to do it. Through prayer, we arrive at the point of being able to carry it out.

The Lord's disciple knows that he is always exposed to temptation, and he never fails to ask God for help in prayer in order to conquer it.

St. Alphonsus recalls the example of St. Phillip Neri -- very interesting -- who

"used to say to God from the first moment he awoke in the morning,

'Lord, keep Thy hands over Philip this day; for if not, Philip will betray Thee'" (III, 3).

A great realist! He asks God to keep His hand upon him.

We, too, in the awareness of our own weakness,

should humbly ask God's help, relying on the richness of His mercy.

In another passage, St. Alphonsus says: "We are so poor that we have nothing; but if we pray we are no longer poor" (II, 4). And in the wake of St. Augustine, he invites every Christian to not be afraid of obtaining from God, through prayer, the strength he does not possess and that he needs to do the good, in the certainty that the Lord does not withhold His help from whoever prays with humility (cf. III, 3).

Dear friends, St. Alphonsus reminds us that our relationship with God is essential for our lives. Without a relationship with God, our fundamental relationship is missing. And a relationship with God develops by talking with God in daily personal prayer, and by participating in the Sacraments; and so it is that this relationship can grow in us, and that the divine presence that directs our path, enlightens it and makes it secure and serene can also grow in us, even amid difficulty and danger. Thank you.

[Translation by Diane Montagna]

Thank you! Holy Father!

Happy Feast Day to all our readers!