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Guardian Angel Friends

Posted by eph21920 on October 2, 2026 in Angel, Answer, Creation, Faith, Knowledge, Relationship

Today is the Memorial of the Holy Guardian Angels. I listened to a couple of reflections on the scripture that talk about each of us having a guardian angel. I take comfort in knowing that I have a friend who is with me, and also in the presence of God. It is mind boggling, but I am grateful that God cares so much about us that He gives us this spiritual guide. Evidently some saints in the past were known to nurture the relationship with their angels and be so intimate with them, that they would ask them for favors. Pope John the XXIII would send his guardian angel ahead of him if he had a particular meeting coming up. He would ask his angel to speak to the other person’s angel so things would go smoothly. I would love to just have a better awareness of my guardian angel and not forget that I am not alone.

I Found God today learning more about my guardian angel.

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Strange Encounter

Posted by eph21920 on October 1, 2026 in Creation, Faith, Love, Saint

Today was the feast day for St. Therese of Lisieux. She is most known for her writings called “A Story of the Soul”, in which she outlines the path to holiness by doing small things with great love. It is encouraging to me because when I learn about the tremendous lives of the saints, I don’t feel like I could ever do that. But, to do the small ordinary things with great love, I still need a lot of help and grace, but it definitely sounds more doable. It is commonly known that if you pray for the intercession of St. Therese, you will receive a rose as a sign that your prayers have been heard. This evening I went to Mass at the Newman Center. During the homily, the priest said that, even though he prays to St. Therese, he had never received a rose. After Mass, one of the young ladies gave him a rose. As we were visiting, she started touching my hair. She had found a tiny praying mantis perched on a strand of my hair. The young woman gently got it out and brought it outside. That was very weird. I didn’t receive a rose, but a praying mantis instead. According to the Internet, it is a sign of good luck, or is a message to be still, meditate, and get to a sense of peace. Basically to pray. It was just so odd. I was grateful to go to church and to have a strange, interesting encounter.

I Found God today in a strange encounter.

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Shared Faith Stories

Posted by eph21920 on September 30, 2026 in Connected, Faith, Grateful, Life

I went to my most un-favorite places to go this morning – the dentist. It was just for a cleaning, but still. I chatted with the hygienist a bit before we started. She asked if I was doing anything special for the rest of the day. I told her I would be volunteering at the Newman Center. She told me that she raised her sons in the Catholic Church located downtown. She said one son goes there occasionally and sometimes he goes to Mass at the Newman Center on Sunday afternoons. She went on to tell me that one of his friends entered the seminary. It’s amazing the stories people will tell me when I open up about my faith. Also, I was grateful that the cleaning was quick and painless.

I Found God today in shared faith stories.

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Intercession of Archangels

Posted by eph21920 on September 29, 2026 in Angel, Bible, Connected, Friends, Prayer

Today is the Feast of the Archangels, one of my favorite days. I have always been fascinated by angels and have felt strength when praying for their help. When I was at my friend’s house today, we watched a couple of videos that talked about where the Archangels were mentioned in the Bible and their stories. Michael was named in the book of Daniel as he protected the young man and again in Revelation as fighting the devil. Gabriel was the messenger to John the Baptist’s father and to Mary the Mother of God in the book of Luke. Raphael was in the Old Testament book of Tobit. He healed an old man of blindness and a young woman of demons as he travelled along side of a young man who was connected to both of them. The Archangels do the work God has given them, then disappear to allow God’s plan to unfold, always pointing back to Him. This afternoon I heard from some friends and was reminded that one of them is having surgery in a couple of days. I figured it was a great day to ask these mighty beings for their intercession for protection and healing for our friend. Thinking about the Archangels today really lifted my spirits.

I Found God today becoming more aware of the Archangels.

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All Coming Together

Posted by eph21920 on September 28, 2026 in Answer, Family, Grateful, Life, New, Opportunity, Plan

A couple weeks ago, my sister and I talked about her moving in. I was pretty excited as I don’t really like being by myself. We always shared a bedroom when we were growing up and have shared a living space a couple times since then. I feel like we know each other pretty well and that it will be a good situation. She has some furniture that she will be bringing with her. I had been thinking about the furniture here and had already planned on selling much of it. I met with a gentleman who has a consignment shop who put me in touch with an estate dealer. My sister and I spent the weekend sorting things in the house. We have sold most of the items that were valuable and have donated tons of stuff already. A woman who does auctions that we dealt with in the past came over yesterday and picked out the things that caught her eye. Today the estate guy came over and perused what is left. He will sell what he can and deliver furniture to the consignment shop, so we put a date on the calendar. Then, I figured since the basement of the house will be pretty clear, I should replace the carpet. I got in touch with our friend who has a carpet business. He said they would be able to get the job completed in the next couple of weeks. Then my sister will move in and we will be able to start fresh. I am looking forward to that. And I am grateful that my grandiose plan seems to be all coming together.

I Found God today planning a fresh start.

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Sharing the Load

Posted by eph21920 on September 26, 2026 in Connected, Faith, Family, Grateful, Home

My sister and I are together this weekend. She got the Hallow app not too long ago and we have been sharing podcasts that we enjoy with each other. This morning we listened to the daily reflection together. Then we played the trivia game, which we weren’t great at. We played the categories game and the word game as well. It was fun to do them together. We spent the rest of the day sorting things in the house as we will be having people come in to purchase items and haul furniture away. She is planning on moving here in a few weeks, so there is much to be done. It was a lot of work, but we made a lot of progress. We did find time to rest and laugh as we went along. I thought of the Samwise Gamgee quote from Lord of the Rings when he was trying to convince Frodo to “share the load” by carrying the burden of the One Ring for a while. I enjoyed sharing faith with my sister and was grateful that I could share the load as it has become overwhelming for me to try to finish cleaning out the house on my own.

I Found God today sharing it with my sister.

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Eating Well

Posted by eph21920 on September 25, 2026 in Answer, Food, Friends, Grateful, Healing

As I have been helping out my friends, I had been doing some cooking for them and putting containers of food in their freezer. I realized that they weren’t really eating very well and tried to find ways to help with that. After the husband’s hospitalization, they have connected to a caregiving company and have people coming over in the morning and at night. I went over there today and they were excited to let me know that things were going well. The wife told me that they had eggs, toast, and hash browns for breakfast and that her husband ate it all. The meal was prepared by the morning caregiver. I commented on how nice it must be to have a personal chef in their house. They agreed that it was. It has been a week now with this new routine for them, and I could tell that they have been eating more and healthier than before. Their son came over while I was there, and brought over some fresh produce and other things. I was so happy and grateful to see that their eating habits have been changing and that they both seem to be improving.

I Found God today seeing my friends getting better nourishment.

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Blessed Fulton Sheen

Posted by eph21920 on September 24, 2026 in Answer, Faith, Healing, Saint

This morning I learned that Archbishop Fulton Sheen would be beatified today. I knew of him and had watched an occasional, “Life is Worth Living”, TV show which drew an estimated 30 million viewers each week in the 1950’s. Fulton Sheen was an avid learner, acquiring several degrees. That led him to teaching, which developed into his TV show. He was captivating, evangelical, and humorous, able to connect with people from all walks of life. I watched a little bit of his beatification in which they unveiled a large portrait of him with his witty smile. At one point, a relic of the now Blessed Fulton Sheen was processed into the church. It was a piece of his mandible, signifying his giftedness as a great orator. The young man who carried it was alive due to a miracle. When he was born at home, he wasn’t breathing and his heart wasn’t beating. He was rushed to the ER. While the doctors and nurses worked for an hour to bring the baby to life, his mother kept repeating, “Fulton Sheen” over and over again. The medical team finally stopped to call time of death. Then, miraculously, the baby started breathing and his heart started beating. And even though he had gone an hour without oxygen, there was no damage to his brain or body. That was the miracle that opened the canonization process for Fulton Sheen. It was interesting and humbling learning about him and exciting to have this American personality as a new saint.

I Found God today in the life of Blessed Fulton Sheen.

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Too Heavy

Posted by eph21920 on September 23, 2026 in Eucharist, Faith, Grace, Jesus, Priest

I admit I am somewhat of a sceptic. Particularly with so many scams and AI, to determine what is real and true can be challenging. A friend shared with me a video that has been getting a lot of attention. At first, I wondered how true the story was. On September 14, 2026 (the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross), Father Brent Bowman was celebrating Mass at St. Gabriel the Archangel Catholic Church in Hopkins, Minnesota. The story was that he was unable to raise the chalice during the consecration of the Precious Blood. I figured maybe someone in the congregation was taking a video or something. But the parish had professional footage from the livestream recording of the Mass with students from the school. My friend and I watched in awe as it showed him struggling and temporarily unable to lift the chalice before placing it back down. This video starts with Fr. Bowman’s homily, in which he got choked up talking about the sacrifice Jesus made for us. It is truly an unbelievable event.

I Found God today in a video of a priest’s intense spiritual experience.

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Grateful for Hands

Posted by eph21920 on September 22, 2026 in Answer, Connected, Grateful, Healing

Just a couple weeks ago I was really struggling with my right hand. It was swollen and painful and I couldn’t use it very much. I tried to be gentle with it as it slowly got better. There will always be residual swelling, pain, and limited capability due to the juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. But, after my experience at Lourdes, I can physically do more than anyone thought I would be able to. Today I realized how grateful I am to be able to use my hands. First thing in the morning I said my prayers including a rosary. As I slid the beads through my fingers, I was aware of how hard that was not too long ago. A friend invited me to a card making event this morning, so I went after breakfast. It was so much fun folding, stamping, and gluing. I could use my hands with no problems. This afternoon I went to my friend’s house to help them out. The gentleman got out of the hospital and was back at home, using a walker to get around. They hired a caregiver company to provide the extra help that they need right now and asked it I could still come to fill in some of the holes. When I was there this afternoon, I made them lunch and did some things around the kitchen. I was glad I was able to help them, especially since I was pretty useless to them a couple of weeks ago. When my body hurts more than usual, I do notice it and can get frustrated that I can’t function the way I want to. I should be more grateful, like today, for the capabilities that I had just for today.

I Found God today grateful to use my hands.

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