I'm Back Again!

Hello dear followers!

Long time, no "see"!  I apologize sincerely!  My computer had a blocking system which disabled me from being able to access my editing dashboard; now that the problem has been resolved, I will be able to update things here more regularly!

Quite a lot has happened in the last few months of my absence.  We have a new Pope- first of all- the wonderful Pope Francis.  The Gosnell case surrounding Philadelphia's House of Horrors has finally begun to receive long-overdue media coverage, especially now that he has been found guilty of first-degree murder, though the heart-breaking case in Cleveland has now become front-and-center.

There are some long-awaited movies coming out, and some interesting topics on the horizon, so I thank you all for your great patience and invite you to continue to follow me as I attempt to tackle as much of the upcoming news as possible!

God bless!

Frozen Footprints: A Stunning Thriller

Frozen Footprints
-Therese Heckenkamp

This is a long overdue review of Mrs. Heckenkamp's latest religious thriller, entitled Frozen Footprints.  For those in search of a fantastic, edge-of-your-seat thriller to cozy up with during the final days of winter, look no further.  Mrs.  Heckenkamp has outdone herself with her latest young adult novel.

The Perigard twins have grown up in their wealthy grandfather's home, where they have access to anything they could ever want, except love.  Charlene has always been the more sensible of the two, while Max is overly fond of pushing the limits.  The two eighteen year olds have a great relationship, though Charlene's motherly concerns for her brother tend to frustrate him.  After Max and his grandfather end a huge argument on ill terms, Max decides to run away.  He disappears, and a ransom note appears a couple days later, containing threats against Max's life unless the proper amount of money is delivered.  When Charlene tries to meet the kidnapper's requests, she herself falls victim to his schemes, and she and her brother must desperately try to hatch an escape plan that will work while fighting terrors greater than pain itself to do so.  "Devoid of all worldly comfort and consolation, will faith and hope be enough to get them through this chilling nightmare?"

I thoroughly enjoyed Mrs. Heckenkamp's first suspense novel, Past Suspicion, and was excited when she sent me this one.  In Frozen Footprints, Mrs. Heckenkamp's growth as an author is apparent; the writing style is improved, and the characters believable.  The glimpse into the lives of the rich is extremely interesting, and showcases one's inability to fill the holes in his heart with material goods.  This book is a fast-paced page turner, and will have you on the edge-of-your-seat until you finish.  It is religious without being preachy, and provides guilt-free thrills.  I especially liked the way that the author followed her characters beyond the horrible ordeal, and explored the ways they coped with the different burns they suffered.  It is definitely geared toward young adults, and would be too much for early teens.  The characters are very well-formed, react in realistic ways, and display both flaws and virtues.  The ending is unpredictable; this is the kind of novel which could draw anyone in, and hold them until the very last page.

I absolutely loved Frozen Footprints, and would highly recommend it to all those looking for a book that is wholesome without being boring, exciting without being inappropriate, and leaves you with a satisfied feeling.  I'm looking forward Mrs. Heckenkamp's future novels, and hope she will continue to produce books which are as thrilling as Hitchcock films, but still succeed in teaching valuable lessons.

Those interested in finding out more about the book, or purchasing it, can visit the book's site: www.frozen-footprints.com, or purchase it on Amazon.  It would be a great gift for a friend, daughter, son, or for yourself! :) Happy reading!

Keeping Goals?

Wow- talk about a long blog hiatus, much longer than anticipated!

During the break, a kind lady from Education Database Online contacted me and sent me a neat graphic which displays the human tendency to make, and then forget, goals.  I found the display quite surprising; we as humans really stink at sticking to our resolutions!

I wanted to share it to serve as a reminder to continue with- or revisit- all of those Catholic and/or New Year's resolutions, and to show how much writing the goals down pays off in the end.

So, without further ado, here's the stats!  Thanks to Ms. A. for sharing this with me and thanks to OnlineEducation.net for the image!

Better Days: A Belated Christmas and New Year's Reflection, Rock-n-Roll Style

Better Days-The Goo Goo Dolls

And you ask me what I want this year
And I try to make this kind and clear
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days

Cuz I don't need boxes wrapped in strings
And desire and love and empty things
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days

So take these words
And sing out loud
Cuz everyone is forgiven now
Cuz tonight's the night the world begins again

And it's someplace simple where we could live
And something only you can give
And thats faith and trust and peace while we're alive
And the one poor Child that saved this world
And there's 10 million more who probably could
If we all just stopped and said a prayer for them

So take these words
And sing out loud
Cuz everyone is forgiven now
Cuz tonight's the night the world begins again

I wish everyone was loved tonight
And somehow stop this endless fight
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days

So take these words
And sing out loud
Cuz everyone is forgiven now
Cuz tonight's the night the world begins again
Cuz tonight's the night the world begins again

This song came up on my Pandora station months ago, and has been a favorite of mine ever since.  Let us hold on to this hope as we enter the new year, the hope which Christ desires to plant in our hearts this Christmas season, the hope that better days are surely on the way, and that-despite all the tragedy that has occurred, and the seemingly endless flow of violence, tears, and pain that has dominated the last few months of 2012- the days of peace, hope, love, forgiveness, and joy are not far off. Even in the midst of the darkest times, the Sun still manages to shine, for "the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness cannot overcome it" (John 1:5).

A very Merry Christmas to everyone, and wishes for a New Year full of "better days".

(The video's a bit odd, but it's clean- and the song has such a cool sound, I wanted you all to be able to hear it)

3rd Sunday of Advent: Rejoice!

Happy Gaudete Sunday!  Now is the time to rejoice, for the Savior of the World is coming soon!

As the priest at our local parish said, now is the time to prepare for Christ with renewed vigor, to make an extra effort to spend time reflecting upon the Son of God and His approaching arrival.

And so, if your efforts to TRAIN!!! this Advent have been strained, or your schedule too busy to set aside a few minutes to get ready for God, this week is the time to amend that, to "trim the hearth and set the table" as the song says, to celebrate the birth of Christ.

Here are my baby steps for the third week of Advent.  I'd give myself a B- for last week, and though I have a whole slew of excuses to justify such a low grade, I'll spare you from them.  Instead, I'm going to focus on doing much better this week, considering that Christmas is only NINE DAYS away!!!

 

Spiritual

 

 

To continue with the Magnificat Morning Prayer and 15 minute Bible reading

-or-

Do one of the Meditations from St. Francis de Sales's Introduction to the Devout Life

 

 

Mental

 

 

20 minutes of daily reading and writing

 

 

Physical

 

 

To do three weight-lifting exercises and two aerobics exercises this week

 

 



 

Don't forget to start your Christmas novenas today!

 

Rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel shall come to you, oh Israel!

 

All images found through Bing.com.

 



A Word About the Election

November 6th was a sad day for Americans, for on this day President Barack Obama secured four more years of control over the formerly-free United States.  The thing that made this victory more painful than the 2008 results was the hope that the Republican party felt, the feeling that, this time, they actually had a chance, that it was finally their turn to call the shots.  Everyone held his breath as he watched the promising signs, and for good reason.  I live in a state that has a blue past, but this election the Romney stickers far outnumbered the Obama ones, and it seemed like there were not nearly as many Democrat yard signs as there were Republican signs.  After the HHS Mandate scandal, and the Fortnight for Freedom which brought Catholic bishops together across the nation, it seemed like Catholics had finally been awoken, and would go out and vote for the right man this time.  

And yet, here the country stands in a state of sad shock, shaking its head in disbelief over its inhabitants.  Those who have been fighting the wrongs committed for four years, truly feeling in their hearts that this country was still worth saving, are now left with an emptiness to replace their passion, wondering if America is really that lost.  Much like the Batman movies, where the great superhero fights to save a fallen world that never really proves that it deserves salvation, those who understand this country's dangerous situation and did their best to save it, fought-and are still fighting- holding onto the memories of what this country used to be.

Like Moses, the remaining faithful are left struggling to come up the necessary number of righteous souls to stop God's justice.  So now, they ask themselves, is it even worth it any more?  Has God really abandoned us?  Is our country truly beyond salvation?  And, if so, is there any point in fighting for it any more?

Despite the seemingly irreversible, soul-threatening, degradation that our culture has suffered, and despite the proof this past November that many Americans still refuse to acknowledge the danger that this president-turned-celebrity poses, there is still hope.  Many times, cultures have reached a point like this, where it seemed the only way left to go was down, and like there no way the people would ever wake up enough to crawl out of the hole they had dug for themselves in their sleep.  But, oftentimes it is at that moment when faith finally triumphs, and hope proves to be worth keeping.  Germany never thought that it would be free of Hitler and his atrocious "work camps", and yet, eventually, they were.  The American POWs, being brutally tortured in Japanese prisons as World War II raged on, never thought they would see their beloved families and countries again, yet they did.  Yes, in the process, countless men suffered and died, but not without believing that- one day- those who lived on after them would see better days.  

Here in America, we are both far from, and closer to, the horrors of Hitler and the threats of the Japanese, than we realize.  The daily massacre of infants in the womb and elderly in "professional care" is uncomfortably similar to Hitler's elimination of the "unnecessary" or "inconvenient" members of society.  Yet, we are still allowed to go to church and still allowed to pray.  As we put candles in the windows to decorate our houses for Christmas, let us not forget the first time candles were positioned that way was to signal to priests in hiding which houses were safe, and would welcome an outlawed priest to say Mass, and to stay for the night.  And in remembering that, let us thank God that our country has not yet come to such an extreme.

Though the "Happy Holidays" that will replace "Merry Christmas", and the missing, outlawed Nativity scenes are discouraging, do not forget that here, in the United States of America, the freedom of religion and freedom of speech have not yet been snuffed out, and that the fact that blogs like this can still exist is a testament to the fact that we have not yet lost all our freedom.  And as long as a cross can by openly displayed in the home, and an American flag fly on the porch, the faithful can hold on to these signs as promises of what is to come.  Hold out one more term, America.  Though Obama may make many horrible decisions, he is only a man, who is fallen just like the rest of us.  And just like each one of us, he deserves the benefit of the doubt, and a second chance.  Hating him, wishing ill upon him, or blaming him for all that has gone wrong is not only negative, but sinful.  Imagine all the men who hated Christ, spit on Him, killed Him.  Did He strike them, despise them, seek revenge upon them?  No.  He forgave them.  But, He also fought back, though not in the way the world expected.  And, guess what, He won.

This does not mean the population should agree with what Obama is doing, but it does mean that they-especially the Christians- should continue to defend the truth, while remembering that God is the only one who is all-powerful.  This does not ensure that everything will be all right, but it does guarantee that- no matter how hard the government, the culture, the movies, or the tabloids, try to derail God's children, they do not need to fear them.  Remember Christ's words: "And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell," (Matthew 10:28).

America is a country full of fallen, human people- myself included.  And it is not yet time to give up, but now- more than ever- is the time to keep fighting, but in a different way.  The time has come to follow St. Francis, and stop seeking to be consoled, and start trying to console.  To stop seeking for love and attention, and to start giving it.  To light the darkness, to bring joy to the sorrowful, and- most importantly- to sow love in the place of hate.

For it is only when the world sees that, despite the stereotype, Christians are not here to judge and condemn, but to reach out, heal, and bring warmth to a world of cold hearts, that the lost sheep will be found, and this country moved to repentance.

Our Lady of Guadalupe, patroness of the unborn, and remembered today, pray for us!

And, dear Lord, have mercy on Your people, for they know not what they do.

Picture from People.com

I do not recommend or support the above sites, they are simply listed as picture sources.

2nd Sunday of Advent: Baby Goals/Check-up

Happy (belated) Second Sunday of Advent!

Sorry about the lack of posts, a horrible thing called pre-calc a busy schedule has kept me away from the computer, but after my final exam!!!! tomorrow, I will have some of my free time back, and post about some ways to celebrate Advent, Catholic style! :)

Anyway, last week I'd give myself a B+ for keeping my goals.  I met the spiritual goal completely, half of the mental goal, and two-thirds of the physical goal.  Hopefully this week will be better!

 

Spiritual

 

To pray the Magnificat's Morning Prayer, and read the Bible for 15 min. daily

 

 

Mental

 

 

Fifteen minutes of daily reading and writing

 

 

Physical

 

 

To do two weight training work-outs and two aerobics work-outs this week.

 

 

I hope you all are TRAINING!!! this Advent, and preparing to receive Christ into your minds, homes, and hearts in the best way possible come Christmas.

 

God bless!

 

 

First image from www.flickr.com.

Second image from www.bing.com.

Third image from www.bing.com.