I am trying to sprout a beard Jill, hopefully I will get somewhere with it before I die One of the dogs is getting ready to have pups, by my estiamte on St Valentines Day. Much excitement. I hope you and yours are well.
I was getting ready for bed last night when the door bell rang. It was my next door neighbour , very drunk and looking very ill, lying on the floor looking for a gallss of water. I brought him our the water peered earnestly at him to see he was not about to expire and went in to have a bath. During bath bell went again. Neighbour had lost key. Checked his wondows none home. With his position , prone in the hallway I tried to break one of his windows with ahammer to gaina ccess . But as the wondows are reinforced no luck. Did not even attempt to kick door in as requested, a tank could hit it, it would not open.. Semi comatose neighbour asked me to ring a locksmith retreated into appartment to consider. I thought to myself if the locksmith came out on call out late he would charge a fortune. That my neighbour would probably not have the dough to hand , that I would be asked to cough up the dough. Dough that I could kiss good bye for ever and ever. The tight wad in me came to the ascendent . I decided not to make the call and to ignore all rings on my door bell, no matter how frantic. But my conscience got the better of me. I rang the locksmith, negotiated a (steep) price and told my neighbour and retreated to bed hoping against hope that was the end of the matter. Not wuite. The locksmith arrived did the buiness and let my neighbour in with a new lock installed. My neighbour promptly locked the poor guy workman out without paying him and of course he began to knock on my wondow looking said dough of me, as predicted. However at this point I finally said , 'No' to my now frantic conscience and stayed put in bed. I think dimly as I fell asleep I heard me neighbour's door opening and him organising some kind of deal with the irate locksmith.
I was thinking about this and what Prophecy is telling us about how we are to survie the things to come. If we go in and lock our doors and do not help others, we ar etold we will perish. If we do open our doors and help others we will best be helping ourselves. I suppose we all of us eventually have limits on how often and how wide we will open our doors. As a tight wad mine came when the locksmith wanted dough for a job he did for my neighbour. Other peoples doors might have stayed shut after the first ring. The saints on the other hand never knew how to say, 'No'.
Oh Padraig, I'm sorry but I'm dying laughing, you poor man! I've been around enough of your neighbor's sort, some friends, some family, to imagine it most vividly. Our poor priest in Hardin, shortly after moving to our parish, begged my husband to put a fence up around his back yard. The town drunks would congregate there under a certain tree in the evening and do "things" in the dark (he could hear quite clearly what they were doing which was terribly upsetting for him). We of course put up the fence right away and our priest was able to once again, sleep safe and sound. The offenders quickly found other soft, grassy places to sleep in. Dear Jesus, I do pray for all those consumed by alcohol. It is a gift and a joy when taken in moderation, a terrible curse when taken beyond. Please give them strength as they struggle against the tide, and have mercy on them for their weakness when they come to you, Amen. pcj
Oh how exciting! Puppies! I miss having a dog so much. I'll pray an extra prayer for them. We are doing very well thank you. Still working on the poor old house, but, we laugh alot here. More than any other home we have lived in, so, in spite of all the work, it is good. Life is good. I am grateful for that. God bless! pcj
The neighbour , Anthony is very good really. It is the first time since he moved in two years ago I have seen him drunk so I make allowances. I think for a man of his age (maybe late fifties) living on his own, there must be a lot of loneliness and hence a need to head for the bars. He is always polite and quiet. I don't think he is an alcoholic, at least as far as I know. I am glad to hear you all laugh a lot. I think the devil fears laughter even more than he does holy water. One think I have noticed in the past with alcholics in the past is how sweet and good mannered they always seem (when sober) I sometimes have wondered if that is part of their problem, that they are too sweet to be assertive. Anyway. It is great to hear of people being so happy. It is getting rarer I think.
I had a feeling tonight,Jill. that if you look out the back window of your house there might be an incline or a hill amd that it would be pleasing to God to build there a Cross and Shrine
A Little off thread., I think your reference to dog having puppies makes it seem ok. We had our 9th grandchild last evening, a little boy. He was delivered by c section a month early. My daughter was referred to the Coombe Hospital in Dublin 2 days ago as it was detected that baby has an enlarged heart and reduced function. As of now he is being checked and we are waiting further information on his condition. Please say a prayer that all will be well. I am caring for her 4 other children. Her husband will be back tomorrow. It's been a roller coaster but I'm so happy that baby has arrived. God is good
We are in town and it is flat here, but a few hours drive in the direction you suggest is my late Grandmother's property that is now ours. Many hills there with a stream. It's beautiful. A cross and shrine there would be wonderful if that's where God wants. I'll scan a photo for you and see if it's what you were feeling. If it's not where God wants, I'll have to find a map and see what the hills are behind us. Probably private property so I'd have to be sneaky. Hope all's been quiet with the neighbor, poor fellow, he probably feels wretched today. And embarrassed. God bless you Padraig, I'm going to go find a photo. pcj
Dear Mary our Mother, we ask for your prayers to your Son for this little boy and his family. We ask for his healing and that his heart beat strong and be filled with the Holy Spirit, Amen.
View attachment 4148 View attachment 4149 Here's the property. The photo on the right is my daughter at the river, I always thought it might be her angel with her... I'd love it to be here. If not, I'll go a hunting. Thanks again and God bless, pcj
The love of a beautiful maiden, The love of a strong true man, The love of a baby unafraid, Have existed since time began. But the greatest love, the love of loves, Even greater than that of a mother, Is the tender, passionate, infinite love, Of one drunken sod for another! I think I posted earlier that St Louis de Montford came down from the pulpit one day and knocked two drunks out for heckling him during a sermon. We used to have a saying in Scotland "God takes care of drunks and strays." Sometimes He enlists our help. He has a Heart that is not only Sacred but big. Room for all.
beards are very "in" right now in the States Padraig...how hip you are Pups sound like a lot of fun!! Praying for the little one MaryRose!!
"one drunken sod for another" Oh it is so true. Until daylight at least. Alcohol is such a tricky thing. My own Grandfather, who first bought the property I've mentioned, traveled the world building dams, even in Joe's New Zealand. He threw a man out of a hotel lobby there into the street for using a swear word in front of my mother who was a teenager at the time. The man later came back and apologized to him! He had high morals and was a demanding foreman who men were proud to work for. He was also a terrible alcoholic. Towards the end he had to get up in the middle of the night and have a shot of vodka to keep the shakes away. He died of cirrhosis in his 60's. His wife outlived him by 30 years. They're together now, God bless them. I do enjoy a little wine now and then, but I am careful and have a soft spot for those who struggle, it is such an insidious thing to fight. Peace and God's blessings pcj
I have noticed this too Padraig. I used to visit my brother in law in rehab in Cuan Mhuire in Newry often when he was in there. It wasn't a chore because the craic was good. No group pokes more fun at alcoholics than themselves! There was sadness of course as alcoholics leave a trail of destruction behind them and broken families but most I met were the nicest of people. http://www.cuanmhuire.ie/ By the way my brother in law is over a year and a half off drink and he is receiving mighty graces. A few times I have been with him at Mass I have noticed him almost sleeping during the service but he is actually so deep in contemplative prayer he doesn't even realise he is doing it. He told me he gets on his knees first thing in the morning to ask for the grace not to drink and last thing at night to give thanks that he hasn't had a drink. We could all learn from this.
I am not sure Bobby, there is so much mystery in the Spiritual Life. But I have a theory that when people convert, not just alcoholics, but everyone they release a huge flood of damed up graces which flow forward in a great rush. Often a real torrent. The nun in charge of the alcholics programme down in Newry seems to be a very,very remarkable woman indeed. I heard, I do not know it to be true, that she has actually slapped some people who give her grief Also that she takes no nonsense from anyone whatsoever. I always remember a young cousin of mine who was a very heavy drinker indeed. I used to look down my nose at him, at least slightly (may God forgive me for it) . However when his mother died he met his future wife at her funeral and through his marriage he was restored. He then found the courage to go to the police about a brother of his who had molested him and other brothers when they were children. The guy was arrested and then put in prison. My cousin is now the proud father of a large family, in great health and no problem at all. But when I saw what he went through, the courage it took to go to the police, to bring it all out in the open. Well if I had been in his shoes I would not just have been a heavy drinker I would have been stone dead. That is what makes me think of the old saying, 'Walk for a while in another man's shoes.' We just don't know ,do we?
Prayers for mother and baby at mass today. Is there anything in the world sadder than a sick child? How does God bear it? How does Our Lady bear it? So sad. I wonder when Our Lady looked at the face of the baby Jesus if she knew He was going to die on the Cross? Mary did you know? I believe she did..and it was my sins that helped to make it so. The saddest thing of all.
My daughter had an emergency during the night. She had an adverse reaction the opiates. Blood pressure and pulse went through the floor. It took while to bring her back. Luckily it happened in ICU when they rolled her in to see her baby so help was at hand immediately. They are running tests on the baby so nothing further as of now. Say a prayer
