My friend Joyce had been working as a chaplain at the state hospital for the mentally ill, some thirteen years ago, when the staff got the word that the facility would be closing. It was a gradual process, and every effort was made to find other places for the employees
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The poem below was inspired by “Try Something Different” by Price Pritchett, a story that appeared in the original Chicken Soup for the Soul. True freedom does not mean doing what I want, but freely choosing to obey the will of Christ, Who is the Door to freedom itself (John
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In the 1996 movie The Preacher’s Wife, Denzel Washington plays the role of an angel named Dudley. One scene is a particular favorite of mine. A little boy, unaware that he is speaking to an angel, asks Dudley to fix a broken toy ambulance. Dudley takes the little vehicle, turns
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And wherever he [Jesus] went, into village or hamlet or town, they laid the sick in the market places, and entreated him to let them touch but the tassel of his cloak; and as many as touched him were saved. –Mark 6:56– Years ago, my friend Mary gave me
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I am a great fan of good children’s literature. One of my favorite books for young people is The Adventures of King Midas by the British author Lynne Reid Banks. Banks got a lot more notoriety for having written The Indian in the Cupboard
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Jesus said to the crowds: “This is how it is with the kingdom of God; it is as if a man were to scatter seed on the land and would sleep and rise night and day and through it all the seed would sprout and grow, he knows not how.
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When I found your words, I devoured them: they became my joy and the happiness of my heart, because I bore your name, O Lord, God of hosts. –Jeremiah 15:16– For the word of God is a light to the mind and a fire to the will. It enables man
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For he [i.e. Christ] assumed at his first coming the lowliness of human flesh, and so fulfilled the design you formed long ago, and opened for us the way to eternal salvation…. –Preface I of Advent– Have you ever wondered how craftsmen are able to put model ships inside
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For the Helpers of God’s Precious Infants Notre Dame of Bethlehem Church Bethlehem, PA 9 July 2011 You are of more value than many sparrows –Matthew 10:31– In his book Marley & Me, John Grogan admits that, even though he was raised a Catholic, he and his new bride
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Some years ago, I met a five-year-old girl named Mary who had just, only a few days earlier, been presented with a brand new red toy wagon. She never tired of giving her dog Sheppy rides in it. Little Mary smiled at me and whispered: “You know what? I
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