Sunday's second reading.

2 Cor 12:7-10
Brothers and sisters:

That I, Paul, might not become too elated,
because of the abundance of the revelations,
a thorn in the flesh was given to me, an angel of Satan,
to beat me, to keep me from being too elated.
Three times I begged the Lord about this, that it might leave me,
but he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you,
for power is made perfect in weakness."
I will rather boast most gladly of my weaknesses,
in order that the power of Christ may dwell with me.
Therefore, I am content with weaknesses, insults,
hardships, persecutions, and constraints,
for the sake of Christ;
for when I am weak, then I am strong.

I've known since I was twelve that I'm going to be a nun. It came to my attention lately that I don't really fit in anywhere because I'm not thinking about or concerned with what most seventeen year old girls are thinking about or concerned with. It has been very hard for me to deal with. On Sunday the bold really stuck with me and I was thinking about how counter cultural the concept of being strongest when you are weak is. This started me thinking about how counter cultural being a nun is. I don't really know what I'm trying to say with this but I guess I want to encourage you all to keep going even though it's hard being so counter cultural.

JMJ+

~Betsy

Totus tuus Maria!

suffering.

If you haven't noticed, I tend to go through spurts of blogging. So don't be surprised if you come here and I haven't posted in a long time. I'm trying to get better at updating more often but I'm very busy with school and life.

Here's some things that God gave me. It has taught me a lot about suffering and why it happens and how to deal with it, Etc Etc.

Psalms 31:24 and 16:1

Love Your Cross

No matter what you're going through, no matter what crosses you bear. He is always with you, He is always there.

Through all the heartache and all the pain, through all the suffering there is gain.

Even if you can't see hope, even if all seems as night, He is always with you there is always light.

Rainy Days

Sometimes all you feel is pain and you just can't find the sun, but the only way you can have a rainbow is if you have the rain.

Sometimes rain is refreshing and sweet, sometimes it only brings destruction, but it always helps you grow and helps you not be beat.

Because if you never go through hard stuff and life is always easy, then you never will learn how to be strong and to be tough.

JMJ+
~Betsy

Totus tuus Maria!

Life

Life has been really busy lately, I know I always say that and I don't think it's going to change any time soon. Tomorrow we are performing a piece with Concert band, then on Saturday I have Seniors prom, (65 and over Seniors not Seniors in high school) then on Monday is my band concert then on Friday we are playing at the Noah Webster graduation. Then on Saturday we are playing at Teen Works graduation but I'm missing it because I have a wedding to go to. YIKES!!!
Slave and Hymn and Fantasia, We have so much music, it's INSANE!! My favorite pieces are Music for Royal Fireworks, Marche Slave and Hymn and Fantasia, variations on All Creatures of Our God and King.




JMJ+

~Betsy



Christ is risen from the dead, by death He conquered death and to those in the graves He granted life!

It's been a long time...

Sorry it's been so long, I got kind of distracted by being here. Also John and Lisa have a limited amount of internet space so I havn't even been on the internet that much.

I am having an amazing time here and am super sad that I have to leave, yet at the same time I can't wait to get home. It's a very strange feeling. Today Lisa made apple (apfel in German) strudal for dessert. It was so super good! Then Katie and I went to Akathist, which is a hymn to Mary likened to the Rosary except it is much more public where as the Rosary is more pravite. It was so beautiful and truly indiscribable, one really cool thing was that they had blue and gold stoles on!
On Saturday we went to Vienna, there is a huge open air market there called the Nashmarkt and there's a bunch of Kebop stands. That's what John and I had, Katie and Lisa had Chinese and Maria had a doughnut. They were one of the best things I've ever tasted. YUM! We also went to Schonbrunn, which was the summer palace of the Hapzburg family. In the back yard there is this huge garden and we sat at a fountian and ate bread with a garlic cheese spread and drank wine out of the bottle...I felt so Europen, even though you would never see a Europen doing that. We also gave the ducks butterkak, Maria loved that! She also spent a good part of the time chasing the ducks and other birds around the fountian. All in all I have had an AMAZING month here but can't wait to be home and tell everyone about it.

JMJ+
~Betsy

Christ is risen from the dead, by death He conquered death and to those in the graves He granted life.

Oops!

I don't know why it posted that twice... oh well.

Good Friday thoughts

On Good Friday we did the stations of the cross up the side of a mountain. It is very steep and slipery because a lot of it was covered with leaves still. I noticed that when it was covered in leaves it was much harder and much easier to lose your footing, but if there wasn't any leaves it was easy. God showed me that this is a lot like my life. If I can see where I am going then I can trust Him, but if I can't see the path then it is very hard to move forward. Also it got much harder right before the stations and this showed me that it will always get harder before you get a break. I hope you have all had a blessed Triduum and Easter Sunday and may your whole Easter season be happy and blessed.

JMJ+
~Betsy

Divine Mercy Chaplet

TIGERS WON YESTERDAY!!

5 to 1 and we got all our runs on homers! WAHOOO!!!!!

On a more spiritual note, I thought this was very interesting.

Divine Mercy
Fr. Frank Pavone, Priests for Life
The Sunday after Easter is Divine Mercy Sunday.You have likely seen the picture of Jesus standing with his hand pointed to his heart, from which red and pale rays emanate. The words "Jesus, I trust in you" are at the bottom. This image represents the devotion to Divine Mercy, based on revelations given to St. Faustina Kowalska (1905-1938). The image itself was revealed to her, as was the "Chaplet of Divine Mercy," in which we pray the following words:"Eternal Father, I offer You the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your dearly beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world. For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world."Many of the faithful, especially in the pro-life movement, practice this devotion. Indeed, the link between this devotion and abortion is established by St. Faustina herself and recorded in her "Diary." Fr. Seraphim Michalenko, MIC, who was a principal translator of St. Faustina's diary, and the postulator of her cause of canonization, writes the following: "On at least three occasions, from 8:00-11:00 in the evening, she felt like her insides were being torn apart. She suffered so much that she thought she was going to die. The doctors couldn't figure out what was ailing her, and no medication was able to alleviate her sufferings. Later, she was given to understand that she was undergoing those pains for mothers who were aborting their children (Diary, 1276)."On another occasion, she had a vision of an angel coming with thunderbolts to destroy one of the most beautiful cities of her country. And she felt powerless to do anything about it (Diary, 474). What antidote did the Lord give her? The Chaplet of Divine Mercy. [She explained] that the city was to be chastised for its sins, primarily the sin of abortion." ("Wombs of Mercy," Marian Helpers Bulletin, Summer 1995, p.13).Pope John Paul II personally emphasized this connection in 2003 when he signed a special Papal Blessing for those who pray the Chaplet for an end to abortion. The blessing, signed on the Feast of the Annunciation, is addressed to the Eucharistic Apostles of the Divine Mercy and to "all the faithful worldwide who join them in offering the Divine Mercy Chaplet…for mothers, that they not abort their offspring; for infants in danger of being put to death in the womb; for a change of heart of providers of abortions and of their collaborators; for human victims of stem cell research, genetic manipulation, cloning and euthanasia; and for all entrusted with the government of peoples, that they may promote the Culture of Life, so as to put an end to the culture of death."The world needs mercy. As Chairman of Rachel’s Vineyard Ministries, I see that mercy being poured out each day on thousands of men and women worldwide who have lost children to abortion. Let’s pray in these days especially for them.