Oh Nuts

"If I speak in the tongues of men and angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends: as for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For our knowledge is imperfect and our prophecy is imperfect; but when the perfect comes, the imperfect will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reaso...

"Joy is prayer. Joy is strength. Joy is love. Joy is the net of love by which we can catch souls. We give most when we give with joy. The best way to show our gratitude to God and to each other is to accept everything with joy. We all long for heaven where God is, but we have it in our power to be in heaven with Him right now - to be happy with Him at this very moment. But being with him means: Loving as He loves, Helping as He helps, Giving as He gives, Serving as He serves, Rescuing as He rescues. Being with Him for all the twenty-four hours, and touching Him in his distressing disguise of the poor." ~ Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta

O Emmanuel , Rex et legifer noster, expectratio gentium, et Salvator earum: veni ad salvandum nos, Domines, Deus noster. O Emmanuel , king and lawgiver, desire of the nations, Savior of all people: Come and set us free, Lord our God. Veni, Veni, Emmanuel captivum solve Israel, qui gemit in exsilio, privatus Dei Filio. (1) O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel, that mourns in lonely exile here until the Son of God appear. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel! Gaude! Gaude! Emmanuel nascetur pro te Israel! Isaiah 7:14 Matthew 1:23 1 Timothy 4:9 Psalm 14:7 Phil 4:4

O Rex Gentium , et desideratus earum, lapisque angularis, qui facis utraque unum: veni, et salva hominem, quem de limo formasti. O King of all the nations , the only joy of every human heart; O Keystone of the mighty arch of man: Come and save the creature you fashioned from the dust. Veni, Veni, Rex Gentium, Veni, Redemptor omnium, ut salvas tuos famulos peccati sibi conscios. (7) O Come, Desire of the nations, bind in one the hearts of all mankind; bid every strife and quarrel cease and fill the world with heaven's peace. Isaiah 2:4; 11:10 Psalm 47:8; Jeremiah 10:7 Daniel 7:14; Haggai 2:8 Romans 15:12 Ephesians 2:14, 20

O Oriens , splendor lucis aeternae, et sol justitiae: veni, et illumina sedentes in tenebris, et umbra mortis. O Radiant Dawn , splendor of eternal light, sun of justice: Come, shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death. Veni, Veni O Oriens, solare nos adveniens, noctis depelle nebulas, dirasque mortis tenebras. (6) O Come, Thou Dayspring from on high, and cheer us by thy drawing nigh; disperse the gloomy clouds of night and death's dark shadow put to flight. Isaiah 9:1; 58:8; 60:18-20 Malachi 4:2 Luke 1:78-79 John 8:12 Revelation 22:16

The angel Gabriel said to Mary, "Do not fear, Mary, you shall conceive and bear a son and give him the name Jesus. Great will be his dignity and he will be called Son of the Most High..."  Lk. 1 Fourth Sunday of Advent O Jesus, I believe you were born of Mary and are God's Son. Your mysterious coming is beyond understanding. Yet like your holy mother, Mary, I wish that you come to me, for you promised you will. Let me serve you in any way I can and know that you are with me day by day as my life goes by. Like Mary, your mother, though I know you only by faith, may my whole being proclaim your greatness and my spirit rejoice in your favor to me. O Wisdom, holy Word of God, Jesus Christ, holding all things in your strong yet tender hands, come and show us the way to salvation.

O Clavis David , et sceptrum domus Israel, qui aperis, et nemo claudit; claudis, et nemo aperuit: veni, et educ vinctum de domo carceris, sedentem in tenebris, et umbra mortis. O Key of David , O royal Power of Israel, controlling at your will the gate of heaven: Come, break down the prison walls of death for those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death; and lead your captive people into freedom. Veni, Clavis Davidica, regna reclude caelica, fac iter tutum superum, et claude vias inferum. (5) O Come, Thou Key of David, come, and open wide our heav'nly home, make safe the way that leads on high, that we no more have cause to sigh. Revelation 3:7 Isaiah 22:22 Jeremiah 13:13; 51:19 Matthew 4:16; 16:19 Luke 1:79

O Radix Jesse , qui stas in signum populorum, super quem continebunt reges os suum, quem gentes deprecabuntur: veni ad liberandum nos, jam noli tardare. O Flower of Jesse’s stem, you have been raised up as a sign for all peoples; kings stand silent in your presence; the nations bow down in worship before you. Come, let nothing keep you from coming to our aid. Veni, O Iesse virgula, ex hostis tuos ungula, de spectu tuos tartari educ et antro barathri. (4) O Come, Thou Rod of Jesse's stem, from ev'ry foe deliver them that trust Thy mighty power to save, and give them vict'ry o'er the grave. Isaiah 11:1, 10 Isaiah 52:15 Romans 15:12

O Adonai , et dux domus Israel, qui Moyse in igne flammae rubi apparuisti, et ei in Sina legem dedisti: veni ad redimendum nos in brachio extento. O Sacred Lord  of ancient Israel, who showed yourself to Moses in the burning bush, who gave him the holy law on Sinai mountain: Come, stretch out your mighty hand to set us free. Veni, Veni, Adonai, qui populo in Sinai legem dedisti vertice in maiestate gloriae. (3) O Come, O Come, Thou Lord of might, who to thy tribes on Sinai's height in ancient times didst give the law, in cloud , and majesty, and awe. Exodus 3:2 Isaiah 33:22; 63:11-12 Micah 6:4 Acts 7:30-31

O Sapientia , quae ex ore Altissimi prodisti, attingens a fine usque ad finem fortiter, suaviter disponensque omnia: veni ad docendum nos viam prudentiae. O Wisdom , O holy Word of God, you govern all creation with your strong yet tender care: Come and show your people the way to salvation. Veni, O Sapientia, quae hic disponis omnia, Veni, viam prudentiae ut doceas et gloriae. (2) O Come, Thou Wisdom, from on high, and order all things far and nigh; to us the path of knowledge show, and teach us in her ways to go. Wisdom 8:1 Isaiah 11:2-3; 28:29 Proverbs 8:1-36 John 1:1-5

Over the weekend I had decided to paint an old stationary box that I had found in one of the drawers on my desk. Unfortunately by the time I thought to take pictures of the process I had already painted the box, so I don't have pictures of what it used to look like. Since the box is going to be used for something I am please with the way that it turned out. Rosebud had always been the crafty one in the family. On Thursday the theater class that she is in, is having their Christmas party and she made a Nativity scene for the White Elephant that they are doing and it is adorable. Though you can't see him very well baby Jesus is in the manger.

John's disciples said to Jesus, "Are you 'He who is to come' or do we look for another?" In reply, Jesus said: "Tell John what you hear and see: the blind recover their sight, cripples walk, lepers are cured, and the poor have good news preached to them..."  Lk. 3:10 Third Week of Advent O Jesus, I rejoice at the signs that say you are near. Your power is everywhere if I could see it. Yet my eyes often see only darkness and what has yet to be done. I believe in you, yet when I look around evil seems so strong and goodness so weak. If you have come, why is there still so much suffering and why do the poor still despair? Where are your miracles today? Your grace, O Lord, is more fruitful in my world than I imagine. I know your power is everywhere around me, if I could only see it. Show me today where the blind see and cripples walk. Make my vision sharper than it is.

Even though Christmas is almost here I thought that it would be fun to share some Christmas themed craft ideas that I have found on Pinterest. One craft idea that I found was making star ornaments out of old sweaters and thought that it was a cute idea. Unfortunately there wasn't a pattern for this anywhere that I could find Another homemade Christmas ornament idea that I found was making handprint snowmen, which can be found here .  This adorable Frozen ornament, that I found on an Etsy shop , is a cute idea.  These Mason Jar Lid Snowmen ornaments look adorable and easy to make.

When John the Baptizer made his appearance as a preacher in the desert of Judea, this was his them: Reform your lives. The reign of God is at hand!"  Mt. 3:1 Second Sunday of Advent O Jesus, in an empty desert your prophet John proclaimed: God is here, at your side. God has come to bring about a kingdom where injustice and suffering will be no more, where tears will be wiped away, and where those who turn to God will feast at a banquet. "Turn now, your God is standing at your side. Reform your lives, God's kingdom is at hand." In an empty desert John said these things. Give me faith like John's, O Lord, strong enough to believe even in a desert that you and your kingdom are no farther from me than my hand. Make my heart strong like his, not swayed by trials or snared by false pleasures. Give me courage to be faithful until your promises are fulfilled. O King of all nations, Jesus Christ, only joy of every heart, come and save your peopl...

Sunday night I was feeling kind of bored so I decided to start making paper snowflakes since it is after Thanksgiving and still a reasonable time to start making them. A while ago I had found something that has patterns for making snowflakes on Pinterest and I tried one of the patters and this is what it ended up looking like: These are two snowflakes that I made using a pattern that I came up with instead of trying to follow one of the patterns that I had found.