Category: Shared Stories

Father Farfaglia, pastor of St. Helena of the True Cross of Jesus Catholic Church in Corpus Christi, Texas, shares a Lenton Preparation Message, “Getting Ready for Lent.” Make it a great one!

The Charles Blondin Story

The amazing story of Charles Blondin, a famous French tightrope walker, is a wonderful illustration of what true faith is.

Blondin’s greatest fame came on September 14, 1860, when he became the first person to cross a tightrope stretched 11,000 feet (over a quarter of a mile) across the mighty Niagara Falls. People from both Canada and America came from miles away to see this great feat.

He walked across, 160 feet above the falls, several times… each time with a different daring feat – once in a sack, on stilts, on a bicycle, in the dark, and blindfolded. One time he even carried a stove and cooked an omelet in the middle of the rope!

A large crowd gathered and the buzz of excitement ran along both sides of the river bank. The crowd “Oohed and Aahed!” as Blondin carefully walked across – one dangerous step after another – pushing a wheelbarrow holding a sack of potatoes.

Then a one point, he asked for the participation of a volunteer. Upon reaching the other side, the crowd’s applause was louder than the roar of the falls!

Blondin suddenly stopped and addressed his audience: “Do you believe I can carry a person across in this wheelbarrow?”

The crowd enthusiastically yelled, “Yes! You are the greatest tightrope walker in the world. We believe!”

“Okay,” said Blondin, “Who wants to get into the wheelbarrow.”

As far as the Blondin story goes, no one did at the time!

This unique story illustrates a real life picture of what faith actually is. The crowd watched these daring feats. They said they believed. But… their actions proved they truly did not believe.

Similarly, it is one thing for us to say we believe in God. However, it’s true faith when we believe God and put our faith and trust in His Son, Jesus Christ.

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Note: In August of 1859, Blondin’s manager, Harry Colcord, did ride on Blondin’s back across the Falls.

In a recent email, I read about a woman named Pam, who knows the pain of considering abortion. More than 24 years ago, she and her husband Bob were serving as missionaries to the Philippines and praying for a fifth child. Pam contracted amoebic dysentery, an infection of the intestine caused by a parasite found in contaminated food or drink. She went into a coma and was treated with strong antibiotics before they discovered she was pregnant.

Doctors urged her to abort the baby for her own safety and told her that the medicines had caused irreversible damage to her baby. She refused the abortion and cited her Christian faith as the reason for her hope that her son would be born without the devastating disabilities physicians predicted. Pam said the doctors didn’t think of it as a life, they thought of it as a mass of fetal tissue.

While pregnant, Pam nearly lost their baby four times but refused to consider abortion. She recalled making a pledge to God with her husband: If you will give us a son, we’ll name him Timothy and we’ll make him a preacher.

Pam ultimately spent the last two months of her pregnancy in bed and eventually gave birth to a healthy baby boy August 14, 1987. Pam’s youngest son is indeed a preacher. He preaches in prisons, makes hospital visits, and serves with his father’s ministry in the Philippines. He also plays football. Pam’s son is Tim Tebow.

The University of Florida’s star quarterback became the first sophomore in history to win college football’s highest award, the Heisman Trophy. His current role as quarterback of the Denver Broncos has provided an incredible platform for Christian witness. As a result, he is being called The Mile-High Messiah.

Tim’s notoriety and the family’s inspiring story have given Pam numerous opportunities to speak on behalf of women’s centers across the country. Pam Tebow believes that every little baby you save matters. I pray her tribe will increase!

May the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you always!

The Advent wreath is a beautiful custom that involves preparing a wreath, blessing it and lighting it. The light of the candles signifies the light of Christ, Who will come into the world at Christmas.

The wreath is easy to prepare. You will need 5 candles, 3 purple candles, one rose, and one white, surrounded by evergreen branches. Arrange the branches around or in straight line like for a mantle. One purple candle is lit the first week, two the second, two purple and one rose the third, and finally all four in the last week of Advent. The middle candle is lit on Christmas.

Next step is to bless the wreath. Traditionally this is done on the first Sunday of Advent or the night before. If you can’t bless the wreath then do it whenever you can.

Blessing an Advent Wreath:
1. Make sign of the cross

2. Father or leader says “Our help is in the name of the Lord.” and everyone else says, “Who made Heaven and earth.”

3. Read Isaiah 9:1-2, 5-6 The father (or leader) reads this passage from the Prophet Isaiah, familiar to many from Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus, which reminds us that Christ is our light, and that His Birth brought us out of the darkness of sin and saved us.

4. The father prays the Prayer of Blessing and everyone says “Amen.”

Prayer of Blessing

O God, by whose word all things are sanctified, pour forth thy blessing upon this wreath, and grant that we who use it may prepare our hearts for the coming of Christ and may receive from Thee abundant graces. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

5. Sprinkle the Advent Wreath With Holy Water

6. Pray the Advent Wreath Prayer for the First Week and Light the First Candle
Advent Wreath Prayer for the First Week:
Bestir, O Lord, Thy might, we pray thee and come; that, defended by Thee, we may deserve rescue from approaching dangers brought on by our sins, and being set free by Thee, obtain our salvation. Who livest and reignest, with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.
7. Make the sign of the Cross.

Lighting the Candles:

Each Sunday in Advent  say the Advent Wreath Prayer for the week and light the candle.

• In the first week of Advent, light one purple candle.
• In the second week of Advent, light two purple candles.
• In the third week of Advent, light two purple candles and one rose candle.
• In the fourth week, light all four candles.

Many families have adopted the following custom:

• The youngest child lights the candle in the first week.
• The oldest child lights the candles in the second week.
• The mother lights the candles in the third week.
• The father light the candles in the fourth week.

Go to Second Week here

A human person = body + soul

Read more on this here. I’m so impressed with Marcel’s handling of this question and believe, too, that there is a tendency to separate body and soul in modern Christianity.

Vatican II taught:

“Though made of body and soul, man is one. Through his bodily composition he gathers to himself the elements of the material world; thus they reach their crown through him, and through him raise their voice in free praise of the Creator. For this reason man is not allowed to despise his bodily life, rather he is obliged to regard his body as good and honorable since God has created it and will raise it up on the last day. Nevertheless, wounded by sin, man experiences rebellious stirrings in his body. But the very dignity of man postulates that man glorify God in his body and forbid it to serve the evil inclinations of his heart.” -GS 14

She has spent every day of the past 84 years inside the walls of her convent in central Spain.

Now, however, 103-year-old nun Sister Teresita will finally emerge into the outside world on Friday for a very special occasion.

The nun will meet Pope Benedict XVI during his visit to the Spanish capital of Madrid to celebrate World Youth Day.

Sister Teresita is a member of the Buenafuente del Sistal Convent, which is located around 60miles north of Madrid.

She has been a resident at the convent since April 16, 1927. This, by coincidence, is the same day that Joesph Ratzinger – now Pope Benedict XVI – was born.

Great story, continue reading.

You always hear the usual stories of pennies on the sidewalk being good luck, gifts from angels, etc. This is the first time I’ve ever heard this twist on the story. Gives you something to think about.

Several years ago, a friend of mine and her husband were invited to spend the weekend at the home of her husband’s employer.
My friend, Arlene, was nervous about the weekend. The boss was very wealthy, with a fine home on the waterway, and cars costing more than her house.

The first day and evening went well, and Arlene was delighted to have this rare glimpse into how the very wealthy live. Her husband’s employer was quite generous as a host, and took them to the finest restaurants. Arlene knew she would never have the opportunity to indulge in this kind of extravagance again, so was enjoying herself immensely.

As the three of them were about to enter an exclusive restaurant one evening, the boss was walking slightly ahead of Arlene and her husband.

He stopped suddenly, looking down on the pavement for a long, silent moment.

Arlene wondered if she was supposed to pass him. There was nothing on the ground except a single darkened penny that someone had dropped, and a few cigarette butts. Still silent, the man reached down and picked up the penny.

He held it up and smiled, then put it in his pocket as if he had found a great treasure.

How absurd! What need did this man have for a single penny? Why would he even take the time to stop and pick it up?

Throughout dinner, the entire scene nagged at her. Finally, she could stand it no longer. She casually mentioned that her daughter once had a coin collection, and asked if the penny he had found had been of some value.

A smile crept across the man’s face as he reached into his pocket for the penny and held it out for her to see. She had seen many pennies before! What was the point of this?

“Look at it,” he said. “Read what it says.”
She read the words, ” United States of America .”

“No, not that. Read further.”

“One cent?”
“No, keep reading.”

“In God we Trust?”
“Yes!”
“And?. . ..”

“And if I trust in God, the name of God is holy, even on a coin. Whenever I find a coin, I see that inscription. It is written on every single United States coin, but we never seem to notice it! God drops a message right in front of me telling me to trust Him. Who am I to pass it by?When I see a coin, I pray. I stop to see if my trust IS in God at that moment. I pick the coin up as a response to God; that I do trust in Him. For a short time, at least, I cherish it as if it were gold. I think it is God’s way of starting a conversation with me. Lucky for me, God is patient and pennies are plentiful!”

When I was out shopping today, I found a penny on the sidewalk. I stopped and picked it up, and realized that I had been worrying and fretting in my mind about things I cannot change. I read the words, “In God We Trust,” and had to laugh. “Yes, God, I get the message!”

It seems that I have been finding an inordinate number of pennies in the last few months, but then, pennies are plentiful! And, God is patient.

Enlightening piece, Piloting Whales, by writer and blogger, Charles McKelvy.

A fascinating story is told about how positive energy, we all possess, can be focused back to restore balance to our planet.