Prayer for the Glorification of God by JW

Posted: by Monica McConkey
Prayer for the Glorification of God
Dear Jesus, when I reflect on how You overturned the money changers tables in Your Father’s temple, I think about Your righteous anger and I am touched by Your zeal for Your Father’s glorification. I so admire You for doing that! May Catholics everywhere have as much zeal for our beautiful Churches in which You reside in the Tabernacles throughout the world. May You protect those of us who are living temples of the Holy Spirit from the dangers of self-love, indifference to others, commercialism and secularism. Grant us Your grace to keep ourselves holy, pure and zealous for God’s glory every day of our lives. Amen
Jeanette Woodley, March 2011

*image borrowed from http://marymackillop.org/

“Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things…”

Posted: by Monica McConkey
But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha,
you are worried and bothered about so many things;  
but only one thing is necessary,
for Mary has chosen the good part,
which shall not be
taken away from her.”  Luke 10:38-42

Preparing for Jesus, serving Jesus and His Friends…
longing to sit
and listen to His Words
but who will get the food ready and take care of this Company?
Jesus reprimanded me~
I know I need to learn…but what is He correcting in me? 
Not the work I do, but the resentment I harbor against my sister,
my judging and my pity party. 
She has chosen the better part; she is at peace;
she is enjoying Jesus in a way that I haven’t allowed myself to. 
Stop, rest, listen, bask in His Teaching, His Love,
think about His Kingdom, that transcends needless worry. 
Let myself love Him, serve Him with my heart more than my hands…
and listen. 
Always listen.
Jesus, I trust in You. 
Help me to make the time to listen. 
Help me to refocus in the face of distraction and listen through my vocation.

*image borrowed from http://www.crippledsteps.com/

Saints and Scripture Sunday

Father’s Love Letter

Posted: by Monica McConkey
Father’s Love Letter used by permission Father Heart Communications
© 1999-2011 http://www.fathersloveletter.com/

My Child,

You may not know me,
but I know everything about you.
Psalm 139:1

I know when you sit down and when you rise up.
Psalm 139:2
I am familiar with all your ways.
Psalm 139:3
Even the very hairs on your head are numbered.
Matthew 10:29-31
For you were made in my image.
Genesis 1:27
In me you live and move and have your being.
Acts 17:28
For you are my offspring.
Acts 17:28
I knew you even before you were conceived.
Jeremiah 1:4-5
I chose you when I planned creation.
Ephesians 1:11-12
You were not a mistake,
for all your days are written in my book.
Psalm 139:15-16
I determined the exact time of your birth
and where you would live.
Acts 17:26
You are fearfully and wonderfully made.
Psalm 139:14
I knit you together in your mother’s womb.
Psalm 139:13
And brought you forth on the day you were born.
Psalm 71:6
I have been misrepresented
by those who don’t know me.
John 8:41-44
I am not distant and angry,
but am the complete expression of love.
1 John 4:16
And it is my desire to lavish my love on you.
1 John 3:1
Simply because you are my child
and I am your Father.
1 John 3:1
I offer you more than your earthly father ever could.
Matthew 7:11
For I am the perfect father.
Matthew 5:48
Every good gift that you receive comes from my hand.
James 1:17
For I am your provider and I meet all your needs.
Matthew 6:31-33
My plan for your future has always been filled with hope.
Jeremiah 29:11
Because I love you with an everlasting love.
Jeremiah 31:3
My thoughts toward you are countless
as the sand on the seashore.
Psalms 139:17-18
And I rejoice over you with singing.
Zephaniah 3:17
I will never stop doing good to you.
Jeremiah 32:40
For you are my treasured possession.
Exodus 19:5
I desire to establish you
with all my heart and all my soul.
Jeremiah 32:41
And I want to show you great and marvelous things.
Jeremiah 33:3
If you seek me with all your heart,
you will find me.
Deuteronomy 4:29
Delight in me and I will give you
the desires of your heart.
Psalm 37:4
For it is I who gave you those desires.
Philippians 2:13
I am able to do more for you
than you could possibly imagine.
Ephesians 3:20
For I am your greatest encourager.
2 Thessalonians 2:16-17
I am also the Father who comforts you
in all your troubles.
2 Corinthians 1:3-4
When you are brokenhearted,
I am close to you.
Psalm 34:18
As a shepherd carries a lamb,
I have carried you close to my heart.
Isaiah 40:11
One day I will wipe away
every tear from your eyes.
Revelation 21:3-4
And I’ll take away all the pain
you have suffered on this earth.
Revelation 21:3-4
I am your Father, and I love you
even as I love my son, Jesus.
John 17:23
For in Jesus, my love for you is revealed.
John 17:26
He is the exact representation of my being.
Hebrews 1:3
He came to demonstrate that I am for you,
not against you.
Romans 8:31
And to tell you that I am not counting your sins.
2 Corinthians 5:18-19
Jesus died so that you and I could be reconciled.
2 Corinthians 5:18-19
His death was the ultimate expression
of my love for you.
1 John 4:10
I gave up everything I loved
that I might gain your love.
Romans 8:31-32
If you receive the gift of my son Jesus,
you receive me.
1 John 2:23
And nothing will ever separate you
from my love again.
Romans 8:38-39
Come home and I’ll throw the biggest party
heaven has ever seen.
Luke 15:7
I have always been Father,
and will always be Father.
Ephesians 3:14-15
My question is…
Will you be my child?
John 1:12-13
I am waiting for you.
Luke 15:11-32

Love, Your DadAlmighty God

Lectio Divina

Posted: by Monica McConkey
I really like this post about Lectio Divina from This Catholic Life.

Remember our profound ignorance of God as you read.  Pretend that you have never read or heard of the verses you are reading and see it as if for the first time.  Read slowly and out loud if you can.
Take note of what jumps out of you.
Read it again slowly.
Listen for Gods voice as you read.

To read more…please go to this post.

Lent Prayers from JW

Posted: by Monica McConkey
“Dear sweet Jesus, I love You Christ crucified. When I look upon Your body so dishonoured and disfigured on Calvary’s cross, my heart is inflamed with love for You. I cannot see anything but Your Beauty. You have graced me to see the Beauty of Your Love emanating from that cross in glorious rays, streaming out to the world, for the world. This image fills me with tears of gratitude, adoration and praise. Jesus, thank You for your perfect Love, Humility and Obedience to our Father. You are the Lord of Love!” 
Jeanette Woodley 2011
“As horrible as all the suffering and death was for You, Jesus, I understand the need for it. When I think about all Your sufferings, my heart is grieved. You knew how much it would take for hearts of mankind to soften towards You. We value dying for another as the highest act of heroism. You needed us to see how much You Love Us….unto Death. Even though the spilling of one drop of your blood could have satisfied our Father’s sense of Justice, Your perfect plan for our salvation in your suffering and death on the cross was agreed upon by the Most Blessed Trinity and fulfilled perfectly in You! Thank You, Jesus, for Your perfect Obedience and Love!”
Jeanette Woodley 2011

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Favorite Prayer Share

Posted: by Monica McConkey

Please come and join our first ever FAVORITE PRAYER SHARE!

Share your favorite prayer from your blog.
If it’s your own prayer, please include your name as the author. 
If it’s borrowed, please include the proper author or “author unknown”.

If you have a great prayer to share, but you don’t have a blog…please paste it in a comment and I’ll try to add it to the link up. 
If you have a picture in mind for the thumbnail…please send me a link or email me the pic.

If you link up, please include a link to iblogJesus on your blog or at least in your prayer-sharing post.
Feel free to grab the FAVORITE PRAYER SHARE button, but please make sure that it links back to iblogJesus.  When I figure out how to post the code…I’ll add that too. =)

“Come down from that tree…”

Posted: by Monica McConkey
                 …”for today I must stay at your house …”
Luke 19:1-10

I like to blend in; I fit easily in a crowd, unnoticed.  I had heard so many things about Jesus, and I just wanted to catch a glimpse of this charismatic Man.
I saw the perfect tree ~ easy enough to climb to get a little height.  I didn’t have time to think about it. 
Jesus would be walking by, any minute…surrounded by the eager crowd.
For once, I wasn’t thinking about what anyone else would think.  I knew that everyone else was focused on catching a glimpse on this famous Jesus.

From my perch in the tree, I still felt lost in the crowd. 
I guess that’s why at first it didn’t register that
 Jesus was looking at me.
Then He was speaking to me.
He called me by name.  No, He wasn’t calling someone else behind me
…I checked.
He called me by name, asking me to come down quickly from the tree.
He announced ~ in front of the whole crowd ~ that He would be coming to my house.
Still in disbelief that He was indeed addressing me, my mind began to race to recall the state of my house. 
I had left in a hurry that morning…late again.

My home wasn’t ready for company…let alone this company…Jesus!
Suddenly, I was jolted back to the present as I was warmed by His penetrating gaze.
He wasn’t coming to my house to assess my housekeeping skills.

Right now, He was assessing my soul…my eagerness to draw close to Him, my desire to follow Him,
learn from Him, serve Him and reflect His Love…my yearning to accept His unconditional Love.

He knows that I climbed that tree to catch a glimpse of Him:  how deep does my gaze go?
How much can I read from His gentle Face?  How much can I take in, in that glimpse?

He asks me “what do you see when you look at Me?”
He listens intently as I answer Him…

1st Sunday of Lent 2011

Posted: by Monica McConkey

He allows temptation, and uses it providentially to purify you, to make you holy, to detach you more from the things of earth…and above all, to make you humble…

Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. James1:12

Collected from In Conversation with God, by Fr. Francis Fernandez.