Favorite Verses: Day 2

The archangel Gabriel visits the Virgin Mary six months after her cousin, Elizabeth, conceives John the Baptist. Gabriel had previously visited Elizabeth's husband, Zechariah, letting him to know that they will conceive a child despite their old age and Elizabeth being barren.

When Gabriel visits Mary, he acknowledges that she is "full of grace"or "highly favored". He brings her the message that she shall conceive the Lord's son who shall be named Jesus. The Holy Spirit will overshadow her.

This sets up my next favorite verses from Scripture.

When the angel Gabriel presents this announcement, this annunciation, his parting words are:

36 And behold, your kinswoman Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. 37 For with God nothing will be impossible.”

And her reply is so beautiful:

38...“Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.”

Full passage here.

I just have to type it out (copy/paste...) in Latin too because it sounds cool:

ecce ancilla Domini fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum

This is her "yes!".  Her great amen. Or as we say...her fiat--her powerful, resounding yes that gives us hope for salvation because through her yes we are given our Lord Jesus Christ.

For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven, and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man. (Nicene Creed)

I'm a big fan of Luke 1: 38 because it shows Mary's humility, obedience, and disposition to do God's will. She said yes!

So to have Mary as model example of what it looks like to follow God's will is important for me. Really, she's a model for all of us Christians because we are called to follow God's will taking up our crosses.

Man, I have such struggles following God's will. Or sometimes even desiring to do God's will. Lord, let my will be done according to my word. Yeah, that never works out. My crosses have been hardest to bear when I'm more concerned with my own will than God's will. And so I strive to look at Mary's example to remember that whenever God asks me to endure something major (or even something minor), I know that I can say "yes!".

Dear heavenly Father, I thank you for the gift of Mary and for her yes. I pray for the gift of your graces so that I may respond to those graces in order that I follow your will, which out of your love for me, is what is best for me. All this I pray, as well as the prayer that honors your mother,

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.

Amen.
- JD

The Annunciation by Caravaggio // Wikipedia
Mary and Jesus from The Passion // No Ordinary Love Ministries

The Blog Break I'm Now Returning From

During the past few years, January through March tends to be a super busy time for me. I kind of disappeared from social media in general because everything happened.

Things like...

...attending the Texas Rally For Life.

...going on a snowboarding trip for five days.

...spending lots of time preparing for our annual Confirmation retreats.

...spending whatever free time I have helping my parents transition places of residence.

...increased responsibilities at home which includes cooking, cleaning, and upkeep.

Now, the dust has settled. Kind of. Lots more upcoming stuff to keep me busy.

If I could just bi-locate...

-JD

Will Return // PSD Graphics

A New Look

I'm quasi-back from my blogging break. Since going on break, I've updated the look of this blog and upgraded some elements on it. 

I changed and tweak the theme to something a little more simple, Windows 8-inspired look that's easier on the eyes.

Now I have Follow links to my other social networks, share buttons on the left side, a new Recommended For You section at the bottom of every page, a new "You may also like" section at the bottom of each post, and a new page, "Why 'En Fuego'".

Hope you enjoy! Let me know your feedback!

- JD

Upgrade!

In my quest to be cool by following what the other cool kids are doing, I am pleased to announce two new features of this blog:

Facebook Comments! Now every post can use Facebook comments.  This should be easier to post comments, especially since you're probably logged onto Facebook already.  But...I've retained the old commenting system for posterity, in case there are non-conformists out there.

You Might Also Like...the fact that at the bottom of every blog post are links to other related blog posts of mine.  This is in case that you are actually interested in my blogging...and for that, I'm grateful.    

Enjoy! Have a great day!

- JD

This post is about a decision.

I used to keep a blog under a different name...but...I realized that many of my posts for that blog ended up having Catholic undertones or purposes.  My life is Catholic.  So, I think I'll do some copy/paste-ing and repost those Catholic posts here with a fresh take on what I wrote previously.

I think of it as a remix.

-insert DJ sounds here-

- JD

Pardon

So I'm experimenting with different layouts for my blog... Sorry if it changes every time.

The dust will settle.

Forgive me.  Our lives are Catholic.

- JD

Intro

I started my first blog last summer.  Pretty cool stuff.  I intended it to be a blog about stuff that normally wouldn't fit in a tweet or Facebook post.  And for it to cover a variety of topics.  Somehow, a lot of my posts ended up being Catholic or Catholic-motivated.

Well, and that's why we're here.  I decided that making a Catholic-specific blog would be most appropriate.  A lot of Catholic-ness oozes out of my brain and life so...this is where I can blog about it.

Hope you enjoy!

Faith. Hope. Charity. #Catholicblogging.
- JR

Update: Anything posted before this is a repost from my old blog