'Christmas Remembrance'

I'm sharing this with permission from my friend... Charles Quick ;)





A very strange thing happened the other day. I was doing a
Google search attempting to look up the words to a sermon that I

thought I shared on my site. The results brought me to an online

friend's blog.

Turns out I had shared the sermon in a comment to Charles under a post he

made called:

Christmas Remembrance - December 14, 2007



I just now went and searched through Charles AKA - Ceeque's blog

to see when it was I first met him. That was back in June of 2007.

I landed at his site from a link I had found on someone else's blog. :)



As with so many of my online friends, I will most likely never meet them
in person.

You see Charles lives across the POND over in the UK. Still, he's become like

a back yard neighbor and a special part of my life.



In his post of Christmas Remembrance Ceeque was facing his 6th
Christmas holiday without his son James. Charles shares his thoughts
of the upcoming holiday

along with 'an inspiring piece' that his son James wrote.



James was born the same year as my Vinny, he would have

turned 25 this year. If I were reading someone's message like this,
I'm certain I would wonder what happened that this young man
passed at the age of 17.

Let me say that Charles has a post on his site right up on plain view......

'Memo to Suicidal Young People'.





I would like to share James' words with you............







” Prose No.1 version 1



comment: This is inspired by several people, writers and someone I think is a writer! Its not very good …..


“STOP, yes, STOP! I`d just like you to take a moment and reflect.
Right now you`re sat somewhere reading this. Are you eating or drinking
something you normally eat or drink? If so, have some slowly, feel the
textures,smell the aromas, let your taste buds get a good taste.
Something you don`t normally do … you eat and run. I think its about
time we all sat back and realised what we have.


We`re cruising along in life not realising the potential we all
have, each day. We fear whats to come tomorrow, we regret what was
yesterday but we ignore today. And today you`ll go through what you
felt yesterday and tomorrow.


Appreciate whats today, the potential you have. Make a change,
stand up, and shout. Shout anything you like. Express yourself, tell
people you love them, like friends and family. Step back from that
computer, turn the tv off. Talk and appreciate people.


We take SO MUCH for granted, the air we breathe, food we eat, bus
drivers, that sexy blonde at the local shop .. and family and friends.
Over this Christmas spend as much time as possible with the things you
love (or should love) as you just don`t know when its gonna get taken
away from you….



And remember what the great John and Paul said …



“ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE”



in remembrance of George Harrison. “



..........................................................................................................................................



LINK TO CEEQUE'S BLOG ARTICLE - CHRISTMAS REMEMBRANCE



PLEASE JOIN ME IN PRAYER FOR CHARLES AND ALL WHO HAVE BURIED A CHILD.





Christmas Remembrance

James Wallace Quick
September 29, 1984 ~ March 21, 2002

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 my son Vinny who was

serving in Iraq at that time.

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Click on this PDF link and you can then save the manual to your
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I'm getting the hang of mine .... THANKS to the manual.   

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*  January 16, 2010 -  A SPECIAL THANKS to Rick for correcting my link !

~ * ~ GLORIA IN EXCELSIS DEO ~ * ~

My posting this message was inspired by Deb Call over at

Spirit in Gear.  

She wrote a post yesterday........  Early Christmas Visitor Brings Joy

Unlike any Christmas season preceding this one, I face my first holiday
celebration without either of my parents.  We lost Mom less than 2
years ago, and Dad passed away 3 months ago.  My siblings and I attempt
to put on a brave face, while feeling trepidation at
facing Christmas with the empty spaces left by our parents.      Jump over to Deb's site to read the rest............

   Early Christmas Visitor Brings Joy

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

~ * ~     GLORIA IN EXCELSIS DEO    ~ * ~

Dad always knew that Mother was the ROCK and she continues
to be a source of inspiration to all of us.    Mom made the transition to being alone
in their home when Dad fell on July 9th and broke those 5 ribs.  

Dad suffered so greatly in the last months of his life, his passing was a blessing for him and us.    I know, one does not often think of a death as a blessing, but considering how limited his life was, it really was a comfort to us knowing he is …….. AT PEACE.

On Thursday November 5th he passed at 2:10pm.     He was at Anna Maria
nursing home in Aurora.   All the family gathered there on the 4th.   
Grandchildren too.
My Mom and brother Mike spent Wednesday night there.   

On November 5th my Mother and  bro Michael and his wife BethAnn were there.  
Along with my Dad’s brother, Rollin… and myself were there when he passed.

Above Dad’s bed, I had hung a picture of an Angel.    This was a photograph of an
angel that hangs on the wall in my parent’s home.  
The angel is about 24 inches tall.   It was a gift many years ago from my Dad’s brother,
Wayne who died in 1971 at the age of 37.   
 
Above the angel on the banner it reads…   Gloria in Excelsis Deo

It was about 10 or 15 minutes after Dad had died when I looked up at the angel.
I HEARD…………. 

GLORIA in EXCELSIS DEO     …….

  I not only heard it once, but I heard it at least
4 times.    Each time the words just boomed in my mind louder and louder and so totally
FULL OF JOY. 

~ * ~     GLORIA IN EXCELSIS DEO    ~ * ~


~ * ~     GLORIA IN EXCELSIS DEO    ~ * ~


~ * ~     GLORIA IN EXCELSIS DEO    ~ * ~

I can hardly begin to describe the joy.     I know it was a message from my Dad.
His SPIRIT SINGING as he met with Jesus and his dearest family and his dearest angels. 

The peace that this brought me then, and throughout the wake and funeral and  even now I can only explain as a great blessing. !!!

As this holiday season approaches to all of you who have lost dear loved ones…..


Although we grieve because they are not with us, we must
remember their JOY  at being in total peace.

~ * ~     GLORIA IN EXCELSIS DEO    ~ * ~

(Glory to God in the Highest)

 

A Quote and a Prayer

A Quote and a Prayer....


----------------------------------------------------------


"In order to be irreplaceable one

must always be different."


- Coco Chanel -



-------------------------------------------------------------


A DIFFERENT KIND OF PRAYER


Heavenly Father,


Help us remember that the jerk who cut us off in traffic

last night is a single mother who worked nine hours that

day and is rushing home to cook dinner, help with homework,

do the laundry and spend a few precious moments with

her children.


Help us to remember that the pierced, tattooed,

disinterested young man who can't make change correctly

is a worried 19-year-old college student, balancing

his apprehension over final exams with his fear of

not getting his student loans for next semester.


Remind us, Lord, that the scary looking bum, begging

for money in the same spot every day

(who really ought to get a job!) is a slave to

mental illness or addictions that we can only

imagine in our worst nightmares.


Help us to remember that the old couple walking

annoyingly slow through the store aisles and blocking

our shopping progress are savoring this moment,

knowing that, based on the biopsy report she got

back last week, this will be the last year that

they go shopping together.


Heavenly Father, remind us each day that, of all

the gifts you give us, the greatest gift is love.

It is not enough to share that love with those we hold dear.

Open our hearts not to just those who are close to us,

but to all humanity. Let us be slow to judge and quick

to forgive, show patience, empathy and love.


If you send this to 5 people then you have a chance to

make 5 people smile. You won't get any wish for

material things however you might just find a piece

of serenity and the warmth of God's touch.

(author not known)