Sunday, November 30, 2014

First Sunday of Advent

Be watchful! Be alert!

This is the clarion call of the Lord to all of us this advent season.

The Lord is coming!

Are we ready for his arrival in our daily lives? Have we been watchful for those God-instances when he presents himself to us in the guise of another person? Have we been alert to the Eucharistic moments when we are called to be living sacraments of God’s love for others?

O Lord, help us to know, love, and serve you and your children to the best of our ability during this advent season and for the rest of our lives.

Amen.

Saturday, November 29, 2014

Prayer for the Virtues of Mary

This is the prayer I pray before doing my daily reflections. It is written by myself and was inspired by St. Louis de Montfort's True Devotion. and The Little Crown 
of the Blessed Virgin. I wanted the prayer to celebrate Mary's virtuous life and express my desire to imitate her way of life, which so perfectly models what it means to be a Christian.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this prayer. I will start posting daily reflections tomorrow.

God Bless,
Joseph


Prayer for the Virtues of Mary

O Mary, Queen of All Virtues,

You are the perfect model of what it means to be a true disciple of Christ. Your spiritual excellence inspires us to become good and faithful children to our Heavenly Father. Your humble spirit shows us how to know, love, and serve your Son, Jesus, with our whole heart, soul, mind, and strength. Your blessed life reminds us to keep ourselves open to the guidance of the Holy Spirit and allow Him to enkindle within us the fires of God’s love.

With you as our Queen-Mother, we have a gracious champion before the Heavenly Throne and a faultless example of how to do all things in accordance with God’s Will. You are an unblemished and sanctifying mold, who can form us into saints and show us how to more perfectly imitate your son, Jesus.

So we ask you, Blessed Virgin, to grant us your virtues:

O Mary, Most Loving of God, grant us your love of the Holy Trinity.

O Mary, Most Loving of All Souls, grant us your ardent charity and tender mercy.

O Mary, Most Faithful, grant us your lively faith.

O Mary, Most Hopeful, grant us your steadfast hope.

O Mary, Most Humble, grant us your profound humility.

O Mary, Most Patient, grant us your heroic patience.

O Mary, Most Wise, grant us your wisdom and prudence.

O Mary, Most Obedient, grant us your constant obedience.

O Mary, Most Chaste, grant us your holy purity.

O Mary, Most Kind, grant us your angelic sweetness.

O Mary, Most Devout, grant us your attitude of continual prayer.

O Mary, Most Poor, grant us your spirit of mortification so that we might detach ourselves from worldly things and obtain the riches of heaven.

O Mary, Queen of All Saints, crown us with these virtues.

We ask this through Jesus Christ, your son and our Lord.

Amen.

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Who Am I?


Some people reading this blog may wonder who I am.
My name is Joseph Miller and I’m a Roman Catholic. I grew up in Michigan, moved to Texas for college, and returned to Michigan to be near family.

While in Texas, I got a bachelor’s degree in History and a master’s degree in Theological Studies focused on Youth Ministry. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find a youth ministry position in Michigan, but I did obtain a second master’s degree in Library and Information Science with a concentration on youth services. Since graduating I’ve been a youth services librarian and an academic librarian. I’ve enjoyed both positions and have been graced by working with very generous and good co-workers.

In my spare time, I write children’s books, especially picture books and middle grade novels. I don’t have anything currently published in this field, but do have a number of books published in the game industry. It’s my hope to get some of my children’s stories on book and library shelves in the future.

Besides writing, I enjoy reading, and playing games (card, board, and computer). I also have a few favorite TV shows, such as Castle, Agents of SHIELD, Grimm, Blacklist, and The Flash.
 
I enjoy praying the Rosary, The Little Crown of the Blessed Virgin Mary, The Magnificat, and Newman's Some Definite Service. Each year, I renew my True Devotion to Mary, which has been a wonderful spiritual experience.  I also have written a few prayers on various topics and might share them occassionally.

What Else Do You Want to Know About Me?

If you have a question for me, feel free to post it and I’ll respond as best I can.

Who Are You?

So, here’s my question for those who find this blog:

Who are you? What do you do? What are you hobbies, passions, etc.?

Saturday, November 1, 2014

A Glance to Heaven

The title of this blog comes from St. Therese of the Little Flower, when she writes:

"For me, prayer is an aspiration of the heart, it is a simple glance directed to heaven, it is a cry of gratitude and love in the midst of trial as well as joy; finally, it is something great, supernatural, which expands my soul and unites me to Jesus."

I've always loved this line and its reminder that prayer can be a simple glance to heaven, which we can do any time or place.

As I was considering what to call my short reflections on the daily Scripture readings, it was the most compelling title I could think of for this blog. For the last six years, I've set aside time to glance at God through His Word. Each day, I've meditated on the daily readings of the Church, reflected on them, asked myself questions based on them, and prayed to live out their meaning more perfectly.

This blog is where I plan on uploading these reflections for all to enjoy and use. What you'll find here are my personal thoughts on the Catholic Church's daily readings and I hope they are inspirational to those who happen to read them.

When will the reflections begin?

I plan on beginning the daily posts on Nov. 30th, the First Sunday of Advent.

Until then, I'll try to make a couple posts leading up to the launch of the reflections.

What will the reflections include?

They will include a short excerpt from the The New American Bible, taken from the USCCB's (U.S. Catholic Conference of Bishops) daily readings website.

This will be followed by a short paragraph of reflection, three questions related to the reading or reflection, and a short prayer (or glance to heaven) to finish.

That's it. Nothing too time consuming, something we can all do together each day.

Thanks for taking the time to visit this blog.

May God Bless and Keep You,
Joseph

PS: Happy All Saints and All Souls Days!

Important Note:

These reflections are my own and although I try to remain faithful to the teachings of the Catholic Church, there may be times when I express something that is in error. That is the fault of me being human and the error is completely mine. If you do see something wrong with a reflection, then feel free to leave a comment explaining why you think so. All of these reflections were written pretty quickly so I'm sure there are things I didn't quite express correctly or that might be confusing. Thanks for understanding.