The Extraordinary Ordinary by Father Émile Brière

Many feel that they are wasting their lives, that their work is unimportant and their contribution to Christ's saving act just about nil. Their motto seems to be that of the defeatist: "I hope not to do too much harm before I die."

True, the vast majority of us are called by God all through life to do little things, unimportant things. To get up in the morning to another day of lifting, carrying, washing, cooking, cleaning, painting, hammering, teaching, nursing — repeating over and over again for years on end the same mechanical gestures.

Our eye is not clear and we judge by the standards of worldly prudence. We feel unimportant perhaps, and we would like to be important in the eyes of the world. We want to do something that will make others sit up and take notice; we want to feel important.

Many say: "My life is useless," "I'm only a housewife," "I'm just a factory worker or clerk or office worker," not realizing sufficiently that the infinite God himself was "just a carpenter," and that our Lady was "only a housewife."

How beneficial to look at the Holy Family of Nazareth on those days when dissatisfaction with the ordinariness of daily living takes hold of us. Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Mother of God, and St. Joseph were doing little things! Their every act was clothed in greatness because of love — love received from above and given back in perfection, each moment filled with its full measure of faith, trust, and love: a perfect circle, a constant movement.

All of us are called to repeat daily the most important actions ever performed, to use our hands as Christ and Mary and Joseph used them, making gestures infinitely sanctified. These daily actions are made holy, precious, redemptive by the One who made them in Galilee — thousands of years after He had decreed from all time that they should be the lot of man.

There are many ways of sweeping a floor or stacking boxes or doing anything that is in itself indifferent. There is a pagan way, an evil way, a mediocre way, a redemptive way. It all depends on the intention, on the love in the heart of the doer.

Doing little things well, with love and with prayer, will set the world on fire. For such is the power of love, of divine grace, that it does transform ordinariness into extraordinariness. It transforms unimportance into greatest importance, and little things into big things. Years ago Benny Goodman popularized a one-line tune: "It isn't what you do, it's the way you do it." That's a good line to make our own.

What is great? To do the will of God the Father irrespective of the form which it takes in various lives, or in our life at any one time. Joy comes with this. In it we find the redemptive cross and the greatness of a beloved son or daughter of a loving Father.

Let us rejoice that our life is useful, valuable, redemptive, important. And rejoice that, in the eyes of the world, we may be unimportant, small or weak. Let us rejoice at our needs and our inability to fulfill them, for we have a Father who takes care of all the needs of his little ones. We have a Father who reveals his secrets to little children and to adults who have become as little children. We have a Father who insists on using those whom the world considers weak to shame the strong (1 Cor 1:19). We have a Father like no other father.

A day spent in doing little things with love is a day well spent. A person can go to bed in peace. The Father has been well served, well loved, and He is well pleased.

From The Power of Love by Father Émile-Marie Brière

The Lord ....is a jealous God - Exodus 34:14

...the Lord... is a jealous God. Exodus 34:14

God is jealous of anything that takes His place in your life, especially a 'relationship idol'. You say, 'What's that?' It's the lie that convinces you your happiness depends on another person. When you look to somebody other than God for security, purpose, worth and contentment - all the things He willingly provides - He's jealous. So tear down that idol! Yes, it's hard to have nobody to share your life with, or come home to. But when God wants you to hear His voice, sometimes He silences all the rest. Has it occurred to you that you're alone, not because nobody likes you, but because God is drawing you to a deeper place of intimacy with Him? 'How can I know?' you ask. Joshua was alone when God gave him the plan for conquering Jericho. John was alone on the island of Patmos when Heaven opened and he wrote the book of Revelation. The Bible says, 'Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak' (Genesis 32:24 NIV). That's when God changed his name from Jacob, a deceiver, to Israel, a prince with God. When you don't know who you are, you'll allow yourself to be swallowed up in somebody else's life in order to find worth and fulfilment. You'll think you need them in order to enjoy being you. No, let God tell you who you are. After all, who knows you better? The only way you'll discover your true identity, is by being alone with God!

UCB Word For Today-29 Mar 2010

IS GOD SAYING, 'WAIT' ? Psalm 84:11, Psalm 27:14

Is God Saying, 'Wait'?.........No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly. Psalm 84:11 Often the toughest times in life are those moments when all we know about God doesn't seem to help or get us the results we want. That's when we learn about His silence. Whenever God doesn't say a word, He's teaching, even in stillness. He's allowing us to grow by forcing us to think, study and arrive at conclusions while He stands by like the loving parent He is. Faith comes by hearing, but patience comes by silence. Patience is what God gives you when bad things remain unchanged. It's His sedative for the troubled heart. It's the balm He rubs into your aching muscles when it feels like you're being stretched to breaking point. These are the times when the pain lasts so long that only God can release the patience required - the sheer grace to get you through it. There are great benefits to waiting. For example, if you learn to wait and observe, you'll make better choices. The thing you think you can't live without today, you may be glad to live without tomorrow. '...No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly' (Psalm 84:11 NKJV). So when God says, 'Wait,' trust Him. Either it's not what you need at this time, or He has something better in mind for you. You say, 'But what am I going to do in the meantime?' The Bible says, 'Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart...' (Psalm 27:14 NKJV). Stop fussing, stop pushing, allow God to work and you'll come out of this stronger and with a better result.

UCB Word for Today - 24/Mar/10

video and lyrics --- SALVE REĠINA --- REGINA TAS-SMEWWIET jew SLIEM GĦALIK SULTANA TAS-SMEWWIET --- HAIL HOLY QUEEN

Salve Regina coelitum, O Maria!
Sors unica terrigenum, O Maria!

Jubilate, Cherubim,
Exsultate, Seraphim!
Consonante perpetim:
Salve, Salve, Salve Regina.

Mater misericordiae, O Maria!
Dulcis parens clementiae, O Maria!

Jubilate, Cherubim,
Exsultate, Seraphim!
Consonante perpetim:
Salve, Salve, Salve Regina.

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SLIEM GĦALIK SULTANA TAS-SMEWWIET

Sliem għalik, Sultana tas-smewwiet, Salve Reġina
Omm tal-ħniena, milja tal-ħlewwiet, Salve Reġina

Sema w art, għajtu flimkien: “Int il-għaxqa tal-ħolqien”
L-għanja tidwi kullimkien: “Salve, Salve, Salve Reġina!”

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Ħajja, ħlewwa u tama tal-bnedmin, Salve Reġina

Taqla’ l-grazzja w tfarraġ l-imnikktin, Salve Reġina.

...Sema w art….

                                          ---

Lilek ngħajtu f’dan il-wied tad-dmugħ, Salve Reġina

Biex fis-sliem u l-barka nżommu r-ruħ, Salve Reġina

...Sema w art…

>>>>>>>>>>>>  jew  >>>>>>>>>>>>

REGINA TAS-SMEWWIET

Int tas-sema w l-art Sultana, O Marija
Fik it-tama kollha tagħna, O Marija

Kerubini bl-akbar ġieħ,
Serafini bla mistrieħ
tennu l-kelma tal-Ħabbar
sliem għalik, sliem għalik, sliem għalik, Marija

Inti l-għaxqa tal-kbir Alla, O Marija
Kollha l-grazzji f'idejk ħalla, O Marija

Kerubini bl-akbar gieħ,
Serafini bla mistrieħ
tennu l-kelma tal-Ħabbar
sliem għalik, sliem għalik, sliem għalik, Marija

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Hail Holy Queen enthron'd above, O Maria
Hail Mother of Mercy and of love O Maria

Triumph all ye Cherubim
Sing with us ye Seraphim
Heav'n and earth resound the hymn
Salve Salve Salve Regina

Our life our sweetness here below O Maria
Our hope in sorrow and in woe O Maria

Triumph all ye Cherubim
Sing with us ye Seraphim
Heav'n and earth resound the hymn
Salve Salve Salve Regina

We honour you for Christ, your Son, O Maria!
Who has for us redemption won, O Maria!

Triumph all ye Cherubim
Sing with us ye Seraphim
Heav'n and earth resound the hymn
Salve Salve Salve Regina