frans friday forum: TIDBITS OF WISDOM...Fran’s Friday Forum...!!!
- 06/01/18 06:37 AM
I’M SURE THAT OVER THE YEARS you have run into many TIDBITS OF WISDOM...!!!
SOME YOU SAVE...others you may have forgotten, and some just knock you off your feet...WELL...
AT LAST SUNDAY’S HOMILY (read: Catholic Sermon), these words clearly jumped out at me: “LITTLE IS MUCH WHEN LOVE IS PRESENT”...And they have been bouncing around in my mind all week...
SIMPLE WORDS THEY ARE...BUT with profound implications...
FOR EXAMPLE, WHAT IS LOVE, where does it come from, how do you get it, what do you do with it...???
USING THE WORDS FROM THE HOMILY AS AN ANALOGY...What is little...a seed...how does a seed grow...by watering it … (7 comments)
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frans friday forum: BUSYNESS vs BUSINESS...Fran's Friday Forum...!!!
- 05/25/18 05:58 AM
WHEN MARY & JOSEPH FOUND Jesus IN THE TEMPLE after SEARCHING FOR HIM for a few days, JESUS RESPONDED, “DID YOU NOT KNOW I MUST BE ABOUT MY FATHER’S BUSINESS...” LUKE 2:49...!!!
THAT STATEMENT BY JESUS expressed clearly HIS MISSION IN LIFE, and THE ONGOING MISSION OF ALL OF US STILL SEARCHING FOR HIM...
SOUNDS SIMPLE...Doesn’t it...BUT...
OFTEN WHAT DETERS US FROM ACCOMPLISHING OR ACHIEVING OUR MISSION AND GOALS is THE BUSY-NESS OF THE WORLD we live in...!!!
NOW...The world’s BUSYNESS is evidenced by CONFUSION, CONGESTION, CONTENTION, CONVENTION, and many other sometimes perhaps seemingly worthwhile activities...which clutter our daily schedules...
THE WORLD...THE FLESH...and...THE DEVIL are the … (4 comments)
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frans friday forum: JESUS AND LAUREL/YANNY...Fran's Friday Forum...!!!
- 05/18/18 06:55 AM
BY NOW...all of us have been saturated with the LAUREL/YANNY ‘DEBATE/VIRUS’...
AND WHETHER YOU HEARD ‘YANNY’, ‘LAUREL’, or ‘BOTH’...the point is...
WE CAN ALL LISTEN TO THE SAME WORD(S), but WE DON’T ALL HEAR THE SAME MESSAGE...!!! AND AS A PRACTICAL MATTER, isn’t this the reason there are thousands of Christian denominations...ALL POINTING TO THE SAME BIBLE...???
WITHOUT GETTING INTO THE WEEDS ON THIS...A PARTICULAR PARABLE IN SCRIPTURE MAY SHED SOME LIGHT ON THE MATTER...
IN A DIALOG WITH PETER, JESUS ASKED: ‘Who do people say that I am’...PETER RESPONDS: ‘Some say a prophet, some say Elijah, and some say John The Baptist’...AND JESUS THEN … (4 comments)
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frans friday forum: WEEK IN REVIEW...Fran's Friday Forum...!!!
- 05/10/18 11:01 PM
TAKING FRIDAY OFF...!!!...Not really...but it’s been a hectic week...!!!
One son graduating last Saturday from Penn State with a B.S. degree...Proud that he accomplished it in just 4 years...!!!
Older son living at home finally picked up his wheels after 2 weeks in the shop for engine repairs and new clutch...
Got temporary broken tooth repaired Wednesday...setting up for future planned dental work...
ZERO TURN mower broke down just as I prepared to mow our 2 acres...electrical problem...!!!
CELEBRATED ASCENSION THURSDAY at WEDNESDAY VIGIL MASS...NOW...
Headed upstate to help youngest son pack up his ‘stuff’ as he finishes his second year of college...to return home and his … (4 comments)
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frans friday forum: MUSTARD SEED FAITH...Fran's Friday Forum...!!!
- 05/04/18 06:25 AM
YESTERDAY, was our NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER...!!!
This tradition goes back to the founding days of our nation...BUT...
MAYBE SOME OF US have forgotten how to pray...SO...
GOING BACK TO BASICS...If ‘PRAYER’ can be simply defined as ‘CONVERSATION WITH GOD’...THEN...
IF WE TRULY BELIEVE or at least HOPE, or even in desperation cry out...
IN A CONVERSATION WITH GOD...WHO WOULD DO THE MOST TALKING AND WHO SHOULD DO THE MOST LISTENING...???
HUMANLY SPEAKING IT’S relatively easy to come up with a typical ‘LAUNDRY LIST’ of petitions or needs to place at God’s feet, but, IF GOD IS TRULY PRESENT doesn’t HE ALREADY KNOW OUR NEEDS...SO...
THE CHALLENGE BECOMES … (11 comments)
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frans friday forum: ZERO SUM or WIN WIN...Fran's Friday Forum...!!!
- 04/27/18 06:02 AM
ZERO SUM is a mathematical representation of a situation in which each participant’s gain or loss is exactly balanced by the losses or gains of the other participants...in other words...or more simply stated: a group or team is only as effective as its smartest member...BUT...
IN CONTRAST...A WIN WIN situation geometrically effects its team or group by cumulating or adding together the gains of its members and offsetting in the same manner any losses...THUS: WIN WIN...!!!
A TEACHER I had in High School...described WIN WIN in an odd and somewhat comedic fashion but perhaps more easily understandable and even more lucid: “TWO HEADS … (4 comments)
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frans friday forum: FOOD, FORGIVENESS, FRIENDSHIP, FREEDOM...Fran's Friday Forum...!!!
- 04/20/18 06:24 AM
IF WE CAREFULLY REFLECT on THE LORD’S PRAYER, there are basically 4 things we ASK of THE LORD...FOOD...FORGIVENESS...FRIENDSHIP...FREEDOM...
FOOD---Notice we ask for OUR DAILY BREAD...taking one day at a time
FORGIVENESS---Conditioned on the premise that WE FORGIVE FIRST
FRIENDSHIP---GOD, A TRUE FRIEND ALWAYS points us in the right direction
FREEDOM---DELIVERED FROM EVIL, we are free to RETURN HIS FAVOR
THE CROSS, the SYMBOL HE LEFT US, reminds us first of our VERTICAL DUTY...TO BECOME RIGHT WITH GOD...and then, our HORIZONTAL DUTY...TO LOVE OUR NEIGHBOR(S)...WE CANNOT DO THESE ALONE...ONLY WITH HIS GRACE...That is why we say ‘AMAZING GRACE’...
SCRIPTURE REMINDS US THAT when He returns IN GLORY … (5 comments)
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frans friday forum: EYES LISTENING...Fran's Friday Forum...!!!
- 04/13/18 06:28 AM
Yesterday, for over 4 hours, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee held confirmation hearings for Director of The CIA, MIKE POMPEO to become our next SECRETARY OF STATE...AND...
NEWS THIS MORNING...indicates a desire by some DEMS to NOT FAST TRACK HIS CONFIRMATION...YET...
NEVER in the 4+ hour process were all the Committee’s members PRESENT at the same time...!!!
NOW...I learned years ago, and have come to firmly believe, that 85% OF ALL COMMUNICATION is NONVERBAL...
THAT MEANS, in order to render a judgement or decision based on TESTIMONY, to render that judgement fair and impartial, the TRIERS OF FACT must not only LISTEN, or read a … (7 comments)
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frans friday forum: MODERATION FOR MILLENNIA...Fran's Friday Forum...!!!
- 04/06/18 07:28 AM
IN THE DEAD OF WINTER we complained, “How very cold and blustery it is”, and soon during the height of SUMMER we will be heard to utter words like, “It is extremely hot, humid, and sweltering out here”...
BUT BETWEEN these two polar opposites reside the 365 days of the year...!!!
The SEASONS CHANGE, but OUR GOD REMAINS THE SAME...
THE LAST 50 or so days we have been asked to PRAY, FAST, and GIVE ALMS, but the next 50 or so days we will CELEBRATE THE TRUE MEANING OF EASTER...
SEASONS are a gift of God to us who are still mortal humans to … (2 comments)
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frans friday forum: CAN FAITHBOOK BE TRUSTED...Fran's Friday Forum...???
- 03/23/18 06:39 AM
LAST WEEK’S FORUM POST was ‘CAN GOOGLE BE TRUSTED’...
THIS WEEK, based on the latest news, I could have written a post ‘CAN FACEBOOK BE TRUSTED’...BUT...There is something much more important here, and much more crucial to our everyday lives...!!!
SO...I would like to use a little ‘poetic license’ and talk about ‘FAITHBOOK’...OR...as most people know it...THE HOLY BIBLE...AND...SUGGEST how IT SURELY CAN BE TRUSTED...!!!
OF COURSE...THE BIBLE is THE CHURCH’S ‘USER’S MANUAL’...AND...as The Bible itself suggests, EVERYTHING THAT GOD HAS DONE is NOT included therein...NEVERTHELESS...THAT IS WHY, BOTTOM LINE, we are urged to GET TO KNOW GOD PERSONALLY...
WE HUMANS are TRIPARTITE...WE CONSIST of … (2 comments)
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frans friday forum: CAN GOOGLE BE TRUSTED...Fran's Friday Forum...???
- 03/16/18 07:43 AM
Earlier this week I did a ‘GOOGLE’ search on a religious topic that interested me...
It’s not important to this post that I get into detail except to say it took me until page 33 of my ‘GOOGLE’ search to find a source that I felt confident in that could be trusted...
NOW...I don’t know much about ‘GOOGLE’ algorithms, other than they exist, but I know enough about MY FAITH, thanks be to God, to trust MY FAITH and God’s Spirit to lead me away from evil and guide me to TRUTH (JESUS IS THE TRUTH, He said so Himself)...SO...
Let this post be … (2 comments)
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frans friday forum: HALF A LENT IS BETTER THAN NONE...Fran's Friday Forum...!!!
- 03/09/18 06:49 AM
SO WE ARE NOW HALFWAY Through Lent...
AND WHAT COMES TO MY MIND: ‘MISS OUR I’...yes...THAT SPELLS MISSOURI...
AND YES...MISSOURI IS THE ‘SHOW ME STATE’...
SO THERE IS STILL TIME TO show God How much we love Him...BY...
BEING OBEDIENT TO HIS WAYS...!!!
THOSE LITTLE SACRIFICES WE MAKE...giving up candy, giving alms, fasting, doing quiet good deeds, drawing closer to Him in prayer...
THEY ARE SOME OF THE WAYS we deemphasize focus on ourselves...and emphasize focus on others...TRUE HUMILITY...’MISSING OUR I’...
IT HAS BEEN SAID, “HUMILITY IS TRUTH”...Let us meditate on that these last days of LENT by FOCUSING ON THE NEEDS OF OTHERS and LESS ON OUR … (2 comments)
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frans friday forum: A CASE FOR JESUS...Fran's Friday Forum...!!!
- 03/02/18 07:05 AM
I apologize for not posting THE FORUM last week...Being under the with severe stuffiness and a gout flare up...very weatherunpleasant...SO...
In my regular daily prayer routine I AM RIGHT NOW IN ‘PROVERBS’...
AS AN ASIDE...ONE CAN READ THE BOOK OF PROVERBS ALONE...and come up with all the solutions needed to solve the MASS SHOOTINGS dilemma which have occurred in our Country...BUT...
AS WELL AS READING SCRIPTURE a little each day (this way takes 2 years to go cover to cover), I supplant my routine with excerpts from St. Francis DeSales’ classic: ‘INTRODUCTION TO A DEVOUT LIFE’, and this morning I read: “WHAT IS GOOD … (6 comments)
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frans friday forum: HOPE LESS HATE...Fran's Friday Forum...!!!
- 02/16/18 07:49 AM
In the space of a short Blog Post there isn’t enough time to fully explore any particular subject adequately...Having said that, I and millions of other Americans, are trying to get our heads around what causes incidents like the recent school shooting in Florida...
Let the politicians debate ad nauseum, additional gun controls vs mental illness concerns, etc...THEY GET NOWHERE FAST...!!!
A LACK OF HOPE...rooted in HATE for those who think differently than we...is the root cause of all this disgusting HOPELESS behavior...IT IS NO ACCIDENT that the symbol we use for HOPE IS THE ANCHOR...!!!
Looking back at the past shootings...schools, concerts, nightclubs, … (8 comments)
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frans friday forum: UNLESS THE LORD BUILDS IT...Fran's Friday Forum...!!!
- 02/09/18 08:03 AM
UNLESS THE LORD BUILDS IT...THEY LABOR IN VAIN WHO BUILD THE HOUSE...!!!
WITH LENT FASTLY APPROACHING...OUR LORD JESUS understood these words from SCRIPTURE, and we too should ponder them...
AS JESUS WAS LED BY THE SPIRIT into the desert to be tempted by the devil...
PERHAPS some of us are already in the desert and WE NEED THE SPIRIT TO LEAD US OUT...!!!
SO LET US TAKE ADVICE FROM PROVERBS 3:5 ‘...On your own intelligence rely not...’, and make this our LENTEN CHALLENGE...TO LET THE SPIRIT LEAD US...!!!
INSTEAD OF TRYING TO GET GOD TO DO OUR BIDDING, let us humble ourselves these coming days of … (2 comments)
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frans friday forum: THERE IS A TIME...Fran's Friday Forum...!!!
- 02/02/18 06:12 AM
EVERYONE AT ONE TIME OR ANOTHER has heard that famous 3rd chapter from ECCLESIASTES quoted or read: ‘There is an appointed time for everything...A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to uproot the plant. A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to tear down, and a time to build...’ etc.,
From time to time it would behoove us to reread that entire chapter, and in fact, that entire book...
WHICH BRINGS ME TO THE THEME OF THIS POST...VANITY OF TOIL...SELF CONTROL...SUBORDINATION TO GOD IN ALL THINGS...AND SO...
WHEN WE SAY: … (2 comments)
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frans friday forum: AFTER WE MAGA, THEN WHAT...Fran's Friday Forum...!!!
- 01/26/18 07:09 AM
I have been thinking recently about the above topic and praying to see it from the eyes of God and Heaven...
2 Corinthians 8:14 gives the clearest clue: “...at this present time your abundance being a supply for their need, so that their abundance also may become a supply for your need, that there may be equality...” (NASV)
NOW...some think ‘AMERICA FIRST’ is a selfish self-centered concept...BUT...
THERE IS NO PROSPERITY where there is no GRACE...AND GOD LOVES A CHEERFUL GIVER...
THAT IS WHAT IS SO AMAZING ABOUT GRACE...IT’S ABOUT GRACE, not about GOVERNMENT AND LAWS...GRACE BUILDS UPON AND PERFECTS NATURE, and GOD CAN USE … (3 comments)
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frans friday forum: BUILDING VIRTUE...Fran's Friday Forum...!!!
- 01/19/18 06:34 AM
If we are human we all have VIRTUES AND VICES...!!!
OF COURSE, If we truly call ourselves ‘CHRISTIAN’, we should desire to follow CHRIST closely by building on virtue and diminishing our vices...
NOW...no one is perfect, but we are told to STRIVE FOR PERFECTION...!!!
IT IS NOT IMPORTANT to achieve perfection...it is only important that we AIM FOR PERFECTION...
Years ago my daughter convinced me that mnemonic devices were useful...after much argumentation I finally conceded and have tried to incorporate mnemonic techniques into my regular life scheme...AND SO...
FOR VIRTUE...I have come up with: Victory In Regard To Usual Events...and with a little help from … (4 comments)
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frans friday forum: LET PRESIDENT TRUMP BE TRUMP...Fran's Friday Forum...!!!
- 01/12/18 06:48 AM
IT’S BEEN ALMOST a year now since Donald Trump has served as PRESIDENT...AND...
There are still too many people consumed about his being elected president, and who would like to see HIM either impeached, denigrated, and/or unsuccessful...I CAN RELATE...BECAUSE...
FOR EIGHT YEARS I had similar feelings about President OBAMA...BUT...
PROCLAIMING MY CITIZENSHIP IN HEAVEN WAS PRIMARY TO MY GRATITUDE FOR BEING BORN AMERICAN...MY CHRISTIANITY FORBADE me to HATE PRESIDENT OBAMA...and indeed...DEMANDED THAT I PRAY FOR HIM...AND SUPPORT HIM...AND WISH TO SEE HIM SUCCEED...HUMANLY, nearly impossible, but SPIRITUALLY, feasible and rewarding...
SO...I SAY...LET PRESIDENT TRUMP BE TRUMP...HATE IS NOT AN OPTION...!!!
OUR SAVIOR DIED FOR HIM JUST … (10 comments)
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frans friday forum: NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS...BAH HUMBUG...Fran's Friday Forum...!!!
- 01/05/18 07:01 AM
I stopped making NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS decades ago...
It was then that I first realized...THEY WERE A BIG WASTE OF TIME...!!!
Oh, no doubt, my desire to improve over the past year was and remains a perennial instinct...as, I’m sure it does with most who read this...INSTEAD...
I decided it was more practical and reasonable to take it ONE DAY AT A TIME...!!!
That is when I began to notice the most improvement in my life...Oh...I’m not saying those around me would necessarily notice or certify or agree that I HAVE BECOME A BETTER PERSON...NO...But in my heart I was building a life on solid … (7 comments)
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I’M SURE THAT OVER THE YEARS you have run into many TIDBITS OF WISDOM...!!!
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