The Kind of Conversion You Must Have!

this came from my Catholic Email group and I wanted to post it here. I would like to think that we can be forgiven for the times we have failed either to do the things we know we should do but don’t or the times we did things that we knew were wrong and did them anyway. Can one really leave the past behind?

The Kind of Conversion You Must Have!

By the late Father Kilian McGowan, C.P.

Used with permission, from the Passionist Priests

If you sincerely intend to strive for the wholehearted imitation of our Blessed Lord, you should start off with three basic dispositions:

1) Be ready to change-be willing to let God make you over
2) Direct your conversion to an innermost change of heart.
3) Cultivate a true sorrow for your past betrayals of God’s love.

Here we are concerned with that contrition by which the soul first moves toward God. When a humble soul breaks with sin and stands in God’s All-Holy Presence, it experiences the need to do something about its sinfulness. By sin, we mean any deliberate rejection of-or turning from-God.

First, your contrition should condemn any sins you have committed in the past. Obviously this means you must also accept full responsibility for them. No excuse, no smokescreens, and no passing-the- buck. You humbly acknowledge your guilt just as it is in God’s sight. This alone will unburden your soul.

It must be stressed that this repudiation of one’s sinful past is an essential element of true conversion. The reason is that just as sin was a rejection of God and His love, so now repentance repudiates the sins that caused the break with God. It also sets the stage for the return to God’s life and love.

The contrite heart then begs God for full forgiveness of its sins. It does this with the confidence of the Psalmist who said: “A humble and contrite heart Thou wilt not despise.” (Psalm 50:19)

It knows that Christ can restore to perfect health a soul whose sins had scarred and disfigured it. And He will!

Genuine sorrow does more than long for a reconciliation with God-it desires to walk once more in His paths. Breaking with the past, it is already planning for a better future. Motivated by the sincere desire never again to be separated from God, it renounces all serious sin for the future. This attitude must underlie any true conversion of heart.

Also included in contrition is a willingness to atone for the past. It makes you acknowledge your sinfulness and surrender to the mercy of God. It gives you unwavering confidence in our Lord’s guarantee of forgiveness. It prepares you to accept whatever atonement for sin Divine Providence will send.

From what has been said, you can see that true contrition is a remarkable disposition of soul causing many supernatural effects. It makes us face the facts that matter. It leads to abandonment of pride and self-complacency. It causes us to admit our sinfulness.

It makes us repudiate any sin in our past history as we search for our true selves in Christ.

It invites us to carefully and gratefully respond to God’s infinite care of our lives. Obviously, contrition causes an inward change of heart.

It is the start of the process of becoming a new person in Christ. It sets the stage for a new life given less to self and centered more on Christ.
__._,_.___

The Medium Can Change the Message

The Medium Can Change the Message

Years ago an elderly illiterate carpenter received some mail and he was very upset about it. A letter was a very unusual thing in his life
and he was worried about what might be in it. So he hurried over to the butcher shop and the rough-voice muscle man behind the counter read it aloud.

“This is a letter from your son,” he shouted, “and it says: ‘Dear Dad, I am sick and haven’t a single cent. Send me some money quick. Your son.” Influenced by the hard tones of the reader, the carpenter became red with rage and exploded, “Who does that kid think he is, telling me what to do? I won’t give him a cent.”

In a fit of anger, the carpenter walked back home. But along the way he met his friend the soft-spoken tailor. He stopped him and confided, “I want you to see this letter my boy sent me.” The tailor took the letter and read it aloud in his usual calm and cultured way. Suddenly the message sounded different to the carpenter. It came across as appealing and plaintive. It left the carpenter deeply saddened. “Poor Bill,” he said with worry in his voice. “He’s in bad shape. I’d better send him some cash - fast.”

So off he went to wire some money to his son. The message can often depend on the medium! How true!

Demand Better Medical Research

Demand Better Medical Research

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/753448345?z00m=15994014

Dear Christine,

When you or a loved one must seek help from a doctor, you want the treatment to work. Yet when prescribing treatments, doctors often turn to research from self-interested drug companies, device manufacturers and other biased groups. Unfortunately, unbiased researchers just don’t get enough funding.

Studies already conducted on treatments for depression, prostate cancer and high blood pressure are expected to help save our nation countless dollars and lives. Tell Congress to increase the budget for this critical, independent research »

Congress has set aside $30 million for unbiased research comparing treatments — research that could save billions and improve results. But that’s a drop in the bucket. Patients and doctors deserve the best information about treatment options for diabetes, cancer, heart disease and other major debilitating conditions.

The bias in medical research can undermine your life-changing decisions about treatment. Please take a moment to sign the petition today demanding proper funding for impartial medical research »

Thanks for taking action!

Please Take Action

http://actionnetwork.org/campaign/NEPA_proposed_rule/ii3xk8b2o736bxnw?

Our oceans are in trouble. Fish stocks are being overfished to the point of collapse, runoff pollution is creating vast dead zones, and global warming is causing the death of corals. Now the Bush Administration’s National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has proposed a rule that would gut the environmental review process for fishery management actions and limit the public’s right to participate in those decisions. Tell the NMFS to go back to the drawing board! Our oceans deserve better.

Cream -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JFjYzuXesw
Cream - Sunshine of Your Love

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ud1Y7rXFEQg&feature=related
CREAM : White Room

SteppenWolf

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Njf7NBLBA_g
Born To Be Wild

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwLdyIdY6U8&feature=related
“Magic Carpet Ride”

Judy Collins -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OV7T6KCMosE
Judy Collins - Someday Soon 1969

Great clip.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IHRK287rQA
Judy Collins - Since You’ve Asked

I have always liked this song.

Talking Post-Trauma Blues (PTSD)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdEJB7UPmUc&feature=related

Talking Post-Trauma Blues (PTSD)

Eye To Eye: PTSD (CBS News)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BoKtZ_z-sg

Eye To Eye: PTSD (CBS News)

New Map Aims to Help Battle for Arctic Territories

Published on Wednesday, August 6, 2008 by Reuters

New Map Aims to Help Battle for Arctic Territories

by Kate Kelland

LONDON - British researchers unveiled on Wednesday what they billed as the “first ever” Arctic map to show key disputed territories in the resource-rich region.

The map — which highlights Arctic areas where boundaries are already agreed, as well as areas where claims have been made and where disputes could break out — is designed to help world powers as they battle over rights to the remote but potentially lucrative area.

“The map is the most precise depiction yet of the limits and the future dividing lines that could be drawn across the Arctic region,” said Martin Pratt, director of research at the Durham University’s International Boundaries Research Unit (IBRU).

“The results have huge implications for policy-making as the rush to carve up the polar region continues.”

Nations around the Arctic Ocean — Canada, Russia, the United States, Norway, Denmark and Iceland — are rushing to stake preliminary claims to the region with the U.N. Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf before a May 2009 deadline.

Scientists say that due to global warming, temperatures are rising faster in the Arctic than elsewhere and the ice sheet is retreating — it has shrunk by more than a quarter in the past 30 years. This could mean that previously inaccessible oil and gas reserves could be within reach in decades.

Russia sparked international outrage last year when it planted a flag on the seabed underneath the North Pole in an effort to stake its claim to a large chunk of the Arctic.

The U.S. Geological Survey said last month the Arctic Circle could hold an estimated 90 billion barrels of recoverable oil, enough supply to meet current world demand for almost three years.

It also said the Arctic holds around 30 percent of the world’s undiscovered natural gas and 20 percent of the undiscovered natural gas liquids.

The claims on the Arctic relate to a complex area of law covered by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, under which any state can claim territory up to 200 nautical miles from their shoreline and exploit the natural resources within that zone.

Some states — such as Russia — claim their rights should extend much further because their continental shelves — landmasses that continue into shallow coastal waters before dropping into the deep ocean — should count as shorelines.

Pratt said he hoped the new map would help politicians and policy makers to understand areas of maritime jurisdiction as they engage in and try to settle sea territorial disputes.

“There has been a lot written about this coming conflict, but it is largely based on rather poor geographic information,” he told Reuters. “We wanted to give a clear visual guide to what the situation really is.”

© 2008 Reuters