"You have immense potential to love, to care, to create, to grow, to sacrifice, if you believe in yourself. It doesn't matter your age, or your color, or whether your parents loved you or not. Let that go, it belongs to the past; you belong to the now. It doesn't matter what you've been, the wrong you've done, the mistakes you made, the people you've hurt. You are forgiven. You are accepted. You're OK. Give yourself a new birth. Begin now. Today." ~author unknown

Fr. Fallon quoted this in a sermon a few weeks ago. I felt it needed to be shared.

"In order to attract us, the Lord grants us many graces that we believe can easily obtain Heaven for us. We do not know, however, that in order to grow, we need hard bread: the cross, humiliation, trials and denials." Padre Pio

"Always humble yourself lovingly before God and man, because God speaks to those who are truly humble of heart, and enriches them with His gifts." Padre Pio

"I want to be only a poor friar who prays - if God sees blemishes even in the angels, can you imagine what He sees in me!" Padre Pio

"Every Holy Mass, heard with devotion, produces in our souls marvelous effects, abundant spiritual and material graces which we, ourselves, do not know...It is easier for the earth to exist without the sun than without the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass!" Padre Pio

"Faith guides even us and we follow its sure light on the way which conducts us to God and His homeland." Padre Pio

Tonight as I wander through blogs of friends and other crafty peoples, I have paid close attention to the music of each. From the acapella gospel of Allison Kraus to some '30's swing, each song echoed the sentiment of the page. Well except for the rap on one prim page. That was a little confusing....Then I pulled up my own page. Down by STP blares from the speakers and my head immediately starts nodding. I haven't been in the mood to finish anything today and I suddenly get this burst of energy from a song. I wonder if I would be more productive if I had an Ipod and made a soundtrack for everyhour of the day? Hmmm, sounds like an experiment that needs to be conducted. I don't think my DH would even notice if I snagged his Ipod. Now if I only knew how to work the darn thing......