Friday, December 22, 2006

Border Agents headed to prison for doing their jobs

12/22/2006

Two U.S. Border Patrol Agents have been sentenced to a
decade long prison terms for apprehending an illegal
alien at our border!

Almost as outrageous is that the illegal alien drug
smuggler, who was given immunity for testifying against
the agents is now suing the U.S. for $5 million, claiming
he was permanently injured!

I have just signed a petition calling for the President
to pardon these two Border Agents and I'm asking you to
join with me by clicking here for the full story and the petition:

http://www.grassfire.org/142/petition.asp?PID=12097290&NID=1





Thanks!


Debra Estep




To read more on this:




Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Midnight Mass Sermon

Midnight Mass Sermon




They come……. often uninvited but not wholly unwelcome…..
But they will surely come…..
As soon as the Christmas tree is lit this evening….
As soon as the Christmas dinner is served tomorrow….
As soon as the presents are unwrapped…. They will come….

Who are they? They are the ghosts of our Christmases past.
Not some scary spooks from out of a Steven King movie,
nor some dour figment of Charles Dickens imagination….
No…. these ghosts are neighbors, who have moved away,
grandchildren, too busy to come home,
childhood friends, long since lost touch with,
and all our beloved dead.

These ghosts come to us at the holy time, tinged with
sadness, but so much a part of our Christmas memories
we could not banish them if we would want to….
but who could wish something so dreadful!

Our memories, and the ghosts they conjure, are as much
a part of today's celebration as the packages sitting under
the tree this very minute or as the lights that beautify our
church this very night.
They are a part of us and they are holy.!





They come back to us….. served up in special Christmas
recipes they hand down….. unique Christmas ornaments that
were theirs, and those special songs of the season that they
loved to sing. They are our special holiday friends.
Aunts smelling like lavender, Grandmother's who baked the
best bread in the world, small friends who shared their newly
arrived red wagons, and brothers and sisters who wrapped
their Santa's workshop gifts with all the love their small
hands could muster. They are our special holiday friends,
these ghosts of Christmas.





For you see…. they are part of our history, and our history
is holy. For if this Christmas celebration means anything at all,
it means that when God became a part of our human story,
our lives took on a part of the divine story.
The moments of our lives, each one of them, bears the mark of
the divine life. And therefore, the people of our lives,
all of them, are holy images of God among us.
These ghosts who visit us, trimmed in evergreen and glowing in
Christmas lights, these ghosts remind us that our story is a part
of God's story…. For God touched our lives on this holy night.

We need not fear them, these ghosts of love and laughter,
these ghosts of family and friendship……
We need not fear them, for they are our own history,
coming back to reminisce in this holy season.



Our history, made holy, by God becoming one of us.

And so, as I drive down the turnpike tomorrow to celebrate
with my family, they will come back to me,
the ghosts of my own Christmases.
My Grandfather fussing to make sure the house is spotless,
my Grandmother standing in her apron in front of the stove
cooking macaroni.

I hope yours visit you, and when they do, when those memories
of people not with us this day come to reminisce,
remember, they are signs to us of how holy our history is….
Our own history that is made holy by God who took on
our history when he came to Earth this very night.

Greet those ghosts with love for they are signs of God's love….
Greet them with love…. welcome them home…..
and Merry Christmas to you and to all who are with you.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~




By Father Patrick Ferraro



St Joan of Arc – Streetsboro Ohio



December 2003





This sermon was given at



my parent’s Church.



I thought it was so touching I had my Dad ask



Fr. Patrick for a copy to send to Vinny who was in Iraq at that time.



.





Sunday, December 10, 2006

~ Crystal Garden ~

        We had about 10 inches of snow this past week.



I had to find SOMETHING FUN to do with the icicles



and  ~~~~~ I created a garden on my patio table on the back deck.



For the night scene, I dropped some candles down in the snow.  :)



                   



      Crystalgardendec92006



      Img_2692_1



Saturday, December 9, 2006

Tagged

My bro, David, "tagged" me to write 5 things about
me that most folks don't know.   



Hmmmmmm 



  1. I have a pen addiction.  I have to stop myself
    when walking through a store so I don't GO
    into the pen area, or else I HAVE to buy something.


  2. I am very challenged when it comes


    to being organized.   But it does not bother me too much.  LOL 


  3. I collect quotes.   


  4. ?


  5. ?


I am drawing a blank on what to add for 4 and 5.



I was now supposed to tag 5 more folks, but honestly I
don't know 5 more people who blog.