Local Spotlight (380)
Motivational Monday 8-13-18
Good can come from it
What if the problem is not really a problem? What if that’s just the way you’ve chosen to see it?
What if the difficulty might eventually turn out to be helpful? What if the disappointment could soon lead to a valuable gain?
Step back from your assumptions. Imagine differently, optimistically, with confidence and a positive perspective.
See your situation as it is. Then envision a whole set of favorable possibilities flowing out of it.
You have an opportunity here. The future has not happened, and what you do right now will have an impact on how your future plays out.
Acknowledge reality while also seeing the good things that can come from it. Now, get to work making those good things happen.
— Ralph Marston
Read more at http://greatday.com/#
Motivational Monday 8-6-18
Start doing
What have you been waiting to do, wishing you would start, hoping you could complete? Today is your opportunity to make it happen.
Any hesitation or doubt you’ve experienced in the past is now gone. Confidently breathe in the fresh, energizing air of this new moment, and get to work.
You don’t have to be stopped by your fear of potential problems. Just be willing to deal with whatever issues arise, when they arise.
You’ve held yourself back long enough. Give yourself the maximum amount of time to live the life you wish to live, by acting on it now.
Your best goals and dreams deserve to be transformed into reality. You deserve the incomparable experience of making that happen.
Today is your day to stop waiting and start doing. Go ahead, and allow yourself to give your best.
— Ralph Marston
Motivational Monday 7-30-18
Always a way through
There is always a way through. Calm down, take a breath, back away from the drama and find that way.
Life’s realities are not always pleasant or comforting or convenient. Accept reality, and at the same time, refuse to be stopped by it.
Steady your nerves as the situation crashes down around you. Then pick up the pieces and do something useful, helpful, good, and valuable with them.
Keep your cool when tensions are hot. Engage your steady hand to navigate through rough and roiling passages.
There is always a way through. And on the other side, great value, opportunity, a new, stronger perspective.
With grace and confidence, see beyond the disruptions of the moment to a positive vision of what can be. With calm determination, lead the way there.
— Ralph Marston
Read more at http://greatday.com/#
Motivational Monday 7-23-18
Full extent of opportunity
No matter what you have, you have it good. Take care not to let your own complacency steal it away.
Sure, you deal with serious problems, challenges, disappointments. Yet your life is also filled with a whole lot of value.
Don’t let irreplaceable value wither away as a result of taking it for granted. Appreciate it, utilize it, and build on it.
What aspects of life would you work day and night to regain if you were to lose them? What can you do today to more fully enjoy and make use of those good things?
What are you neglecting to do today, that you would pay dearly for the opportunity to do if you didn’t have that opportunity? Remind yourself to do what you can, while you can.
Every life has its share of misfortune, but there’s no reason to add to that misfortune with complacency. See the full extent of opportunity that is now yours, and live it well.
— Ralph Marston
Read more at http://greatday.com/#
A Message From Our Lady of Lourdes Shrine
July, 2018
Dear Friends,
Have you ever had a plan in mind and at the end of the plan realize that the result wasn’t exactly what you
thought it might be? That sounds just like life. Think about where you are today.
Did you plan to be in this place, doing whatever it is you are doing? I wonder if the saints planned to be saints?
Did the apostles know that they would help spread the new church?
At the end of her life did Bernadette wonder how it all happened? All she wanted was fire wood.
Who gave these people the strength to do extraordinary things? Why did they cooperate with
God’s plan and not just continue their own?
The thing is when we cooperate with God’s plan astonishing and wonderful events occur.
Looking back, we know that it was God and we just permitted him to use us.
On the other hand, when we don’t allow God’s plan to proceed and we follow our own the results
are usually mistakes, if not catastrophic, causing all kinds of negative events. The choice is always ours.
Do we choose God’s will or our own? How do we recognize God’s plan? Think about that for a minute.
We invite you to continue listening to the Lord, as Mary requests, by attending three days of prayer to St. Ann and
St. Joachim, Jesus’ grandparents, July 24, 25 and 26. There will be 7:00 PM rosary followed by Mass. Fr. Peter Kovacina
will be conducting the Triduum. In August we also remind you of the novena for the Assumption from August 7th through August 15th.
Are you serious about doing the Lord’s will? Then take advantage of our prayer opportunities. Join us!
Please join us for our steak roast to be held on July 21st. Reservations are due by July 15th.
Tickets are $20 pick up a flyer with more information. We really need your help. Thank you!
In the Trinity,
The Sisters of the Most Holy Trinity
Prayer for Vocations
Holy Mary, you were so generous and immediate in giving your yes to God, inspire young women and
men to follow your example by voicing their yes to God as you did. As a Mother, we respectfully request that
you petition your Son for us, to awaken in the hearts of young people the courage and insight to follow His way
of life as a Religious. If we may be so bold, dearest mother, may we petition that these young people are guided to
help carry on the work of all Religious Orders, but most especially the Order of the Most Holy Trinity?
We ask that as we ask all things through your Son Jesus. Amen
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O Sacrament most holy, O Sacrament Divine all praise and all thanksgiving be every moment thine!
Motivational Monday 7-9-18
Infinite options
This moment has infinite options. Commit to one and follow through on it.
Seek to make the best choice, but don’t put all of your energy into merely making the choice. Decide, and then act on your decision.
You may not always make the perfect choice, or think of everything that could go wrong or go right. But go ahead, make the choice and then move forward with it.
You’re likely to have doubts, second thoughts, third thoughts. As those thoughts come, keep taking action anyway.
A one-hundred-percent perfect plan is of no use if the plan is not executed. So put thought into crafting a reasonably good plan and then direct your energy into making it happen.
Embrace life’s many options, but don’t let the endless choices overwhelm you. Pick a specific path, act on it, and transform your choice into real value.
— Ralph Marston
Read more at http://greatday.com/#
More...
The opioid crisis has been devastating the United States for over twenty years now. Unfortunately, one of the reasons the crisis has been so severe is because the data has been significantly flawed. Greg joins Linda Poon, Assistant Editor at City Lab, to discuss her article “The Race to Learn What’s Really Happening in the Opioid Crisis.” Poon speaks to the city of Cary, NC and how it is using an experimental robot called the Biobot to mine data. One of the ways Cary is tracking and gathering data is by placing the Biobot in manholes around the city to collect samples of wastewater. These sewage samples are being tested for the concentration of opioid metabolites, which is what gets flushed out of the system after the person consumes opioids.
Motivational Monday 7-2-18
Get to the point
The point of this day is to make new progress and enrich all of life. Get to the point and get it done.
You’re here in this time and place to make a positive difference. Get to work doing what you’re here to do.
Let your strong sense of purpose pierce through the complexity, distractions, difficulties and temptations. With unwavering focus, do what you know is best, what is meaningful, what is good.
If you discover you’ve wandered a little off course, don’t waste time letting it bring you down. Just reorient yourself in a purposeful direction, and step forward with an even stronger commitment.
You have great things to get done today. Get to the point, stick with it, and enjoy the sweet fulfillment of your focus and persistence.
This very moment overflows with potential value. Get to the point, and make that value yours.
— Ralph Marston
Read more at http://greatday.com/#