That Was A Close Call By Asteroid 2023 BU -Always Be Right With God!

A relatively small asteroid came within 2,200 miles of Earth on Thursday night before moving on....what is the most troubling part of the story is that the asteroid was only discovered a few days ago..... It was about the size of a truck. Thank God it didn't hit Earth but it was one of the closest approaches of an asteroid, that we know of.  So it makes you think......What if it was bigger? What if it did hit the Earth and didn't burn up in our atmosphere and it caused damage? What if something worse happened? 

It's always best to be right with God, to be in relationship with Jesus, to have a prayer life, to be ready for anything because you never know... We live in uncertain times and besides that, it's easy to forget that we live on a planet orbiting the sun, in a very large Universe, with a lot going on.  Luckily our solar system is in a relatively calm place in the Milky Way galaxy but there are asteroids and lots of space junk up there.  

So be right with God, say your prayers and be ready for any outcome. 

NJA

Write Your Own Personal Psalm For The New Year

 I want to try to be more positive for the New Year. I recently attended a Bible Study group and someone mentioned an idea that I hadn't thought of before which I thought was great. Someone shared that while on retreat recently it was suggested that each participant write their own personal psalm. You could pick verses from traditional, biblical psalms that struck you and add your own verses or affirmations as well. I loved the idea and wrote one that I am saying each morning and evening. Part inspirational, part affirmation and part prayer,  and like biblical psalms ,a personal psalm can strengthen faith and trust in God. 

Interestingly, I am also attending a bible study with a group of women who are mostly Protestant. (I am Catholic.) They are a very welcoming group of women, who have formed a small but powerful community that studies Scripture and prays together. One of the women is a pastor's wife. There are some fallen away Catholics, in the group,  who have been baptized (again, much to my surprise) in a Protestant Church. I try not to pry but it seems from what I can tell, that one of the reasons they left the Catholic Church is they wanted to be more rooted in the Bible and do more Scripture study. The Catholic Church should learn from that. 

Every Catholic parish, (in my humble opinion) should have a weekly Bible Study group led by a knowledgable and trained catechist. There are excellent biblical commentaries available. Perhaps two studies, one for women and one for men. I'm aware that some parishes do, but not all. 

And so, there is still much to do to evangelize in the modern world and some ideas are rather simple but highly effective.

NJA