Be The Love ~ Peace ~ Joy Of The Christmas Season

When Jesus taught us to pray, he taught us to pray for God’s kingdom. In Luke 17:20-21, Jesus also told us where the Kingdom of God is, “The Kingdom of God isn’t ushered in with visible signs. You won’t be able to say, ‘It has begun here in this place or there in that part of the country.’ For the Kingdom of God is within you.” The Catholic Living Bible, Tyndale House Publishers

The Kingdom of God is part of our spiritual DNA, which is also echoed in 1 Corinthians 3:16,“Don’t you realize that you are the Temple of God and that the spirit of God dwells within you?”

The kingdom of God we are to pray for is not brought on by ego, pride, guns, nor strife. Those are the dark tools of sinister forces whose insatiable appetites for power, money, and domination blind the brains of would-be good people, even Christians, who through deluded allegiance to God find themselves obeying man instead.

We are not to mix the counterfeit kingdom of humans with the Kingdom of God. That is not how this works. We already had the battle of Jericho. Calls sent out before January 6, to reenact the battle of Jericho at the United States Capitol, as well as all other state Capitol buildings were pure evil with lack of empathy, compassion, and love, not the will of God.

STAND DOWN.

Do you feel called to act in good faith? Then pray. Pray for the Holy Spirit to enter your heart. Jesus told us all how to think, speak and act. You will find none of his words incite any of us to violence.

If, when you pray, you feel intense anger, frustration, and hatred, then you are listening to and following the wrong god.

One of the reasons Jesus was crucified was that he taught that the Kingdom of God dwelt in him, as well as within each of us. He equated himself with God. Jesus taught us that we can do the things he did, “and even greater besides” in John 14:12. He was teaching you and me about the personal power we have within ourselves, the power of our thoughts, words, and actions. Our bodies are animated by our souls, enlivened by our I AM Presence, GOD DWELLING IN ALL OF US, according to Jesus the Christ.

This is the time for forgiveness, humility, and trust of God, not the arrogant boast and folly of humans. This is a time of introspection, considering the roles we are living in our lives, based on the choices we make. Are we living in the love, hope, peace, and truth that the kingdom of God promises? If not, you are promoting the illusion that lies, conspiracies, evil, death and destruction are good. They are not.

Jesus said, “Because of the increasing lawlessness, the love of the greater number will grow cold.”

That is what we are seeing today in the belligerent manipulation of man usurping the will of God in individuals.

The kingdom of God is already here. The profound peace and love of the kingdom of God is already within us, as Jesus told us in Luke 17:21. We experience this when we pray, gather together in song, and meditate together for the common good of all. We touch on this brotherhood of humankind during the Christmas season, focusing on the peace, joy, and giving rather than receiving.

How do you know if the kingdom of God is within you?

The fruits of God and the presence of the Holy Spirit will be abundant in your life. If these fruits are missing from your life, you will know you have chosen the wrong road to follow.

If gentleness, faithfulness, self-control, meekness, peace, joy, love, kindness, patience, goodness, temperance, and faith are missing in your life, stop whatever you are doing and pray. Pray for the love of God, Father of Jesus Christ, to enter your heart.

Watch out for political parties or other groups once known for integrity, truth and honor, which have been hijacked by so many hate groups that many fear standing up for the right thing for losing their members. Watch out for those who attempt voter suppression tactics in major cities to silence democracy. Now, more than ever before, all citizens of the United States of America need to stand up for facts, not fiction; truth, not conspiracy; and honor and integrity over selling out the country. Truth matters.

There are so many other gods out there today, masking as the One, True God. You will know which god (God) you are following by the fruits of your labor.

Namaste

The Virtue of Virtues ~ Second Printing ~ Perfect for Grades Five Through Eight

https://www.iuniverse.com/en/bookstore/bookdetails/809142-the-virtue-of-virtues

When sex education classes were introduced into public school systems across the United States of America back in the 1990s, parents asked me to write a book to help parents and their grade five through eight children, so they could have a more value-based teaching to present to their young ones. I also had a sixth grader coming through the school at that time, and other of my children to follow. I agreed and authored The Virtue of Virtues, which I taught at Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in Hopedale, Massachusetts, in the Diocese of Worcester.

Some of the sex education textbooks I’d seen in public schools asked the sixth grade children in their sex education class when was that the last time they had sex; and promoted products on the best condoms and gels to use for their own protection. While using the best condoms and the best gels might be beneficial to preventing them from getting certain diseases, the premise that all the sixth graders were having sex was inaccurate. Not only was it inaccurate, it was undermining what many parents had been, and to this day, are teaching about morality. Schools were usurping parental authority on what morals ought to be taught to their children.

Schools across the country had D.A.R.E. ~ Just Say No Program to help students combat the drug and alcohol epidemic sweeping through schools of all kinds of socio-economic  status. But when it came to underage kids being sexually active, there were no protections put in place for those children who did not want to, or choose not to have sex. Teaching about condoms, gels and abortions as the means to prevent unwanted pregnancies was apparently the way to go.

What about the sexually abused student? Would condoms, gels and abortions be the remedy for them if they got pregnant?

What about the 12-year-old girl or boy who did not want to have sex with another student, teacher, or other adult? Would condoms, gels and abortions be the remedy for these students as well?

Of course not.

I attended the next school council meeting in order to present parent concerns over these issues. However, peer pressure does not only stop with children in school. It became apparent that sex education classes were here to stay. What the school council did decide to do was to go along with the newly created Massachusetts Education Reform Act of 1993. The Town of Hopedale voted me in as one of the 2 parents in the town. On that civic board, I was voted in as co-chairperson along with the elementary school principal.

At the first board meeting, I suggested that part of the education reform ought to include a course on ethics to go along with the sex education program. In that way, children without a voice would be able to use the program (which was yet to be written) to better be able to stand up for themselves and not be pushed into going along with the crowd if they did not want to go along with them. The free will of the children was being usurped.

“We need to have a course on ethics to go along with the sex education program,” I said to the board.

“But whose ethics would we teach?” was the quick comeback from the school principal.

I realized at that moment that this public school would not allow certain ethics or particular kinds of morality to be taught in the public schools. They did teach not to steal other children’s lunch money, not to fight on the playground, and not to disrespect the teacher, but somehow teaching about the morality of protecting their own person as being private to each student was beyond the comprehension.

Morality as a subject in the public school curriculum was not addressed. I told the board that this material is the role of the parents to address with their children, not the public school system. The principal told me that since many homes were now single parent homes, and that many parents were not teaching this subject to their children, the role of sex education would now fall to the schools. I withdrew my children from this amoral sex education curriculum.

That’s when I knew had to write The Virtue of Virtues. It is a grade five – eight, virtue-based morality curriculum designed to be incorporated into existing CCD parish programs. I taught it to sixth-graders. The seven lessons may be taught once each month during the CCD year or in a seven-week block from October to December at the start of the CCD year. Both methods have proven to be successful.

Parents can also use this organized approach to teach virtues to their children, since The Virtue of Virtues may be taught one hour each night for one week, once a week for seven weeks, or once a month for seven months. Parents have the opportunity to teach their children individually or in a comfortable setting with other parents and children.

My job since 1977 to that point was writing for a newspaper, The Milford Daily News (under the name Linda Kearsley), as a correspondent and feature story writer for the neighboring Town of Mendon. I decided to answer the six questions every reporter needs to ask for a complete story: What?, Why?, How?, When?, Who? and Where?.

The What? section of each chapter refers to a current day fiction story, which deals with the lesson theme, and is followed by the Why? section that asks questions. How? is a written activity. When? opens the scriptures for the students, while Who? illustrates the message is meant for them. Each lesson concludes with Where? calling students to act out their faith here and now.

This book is written with much love for our youth. Each of the seven lessons leads children to seek out God, who loves them, and to live out the virtues, as a way of returning their love for God.

The seven chapters are:

1. Theological Virtues
A. Faith
B. Hope
C. Love

2. Cardinal Virtues
A. Prudence
B. Justice
C. Fortitude
D. Temperance

3. Fruits Of The Holy Spirit
A. Charity (Love)
B. Joy
C. Peace
D. Patience
E. Kindness
F. Goodness
G. Endurance
H. Mildness
I. Faith
J. Modesty
K. Restraint
L. Chastity

4. Seven Capital Sins
A. Pride
B. Covetousness (Greed)
C. Lust
D. Anger
E. Gluttony
F. Envy
G. Sloth

5. The Opposite Virtues
A. Humility
B. Generosity
C. Chastity
D. Meekness
E. Temperance
F. Brotherly Love
G. Diligence

6. Friendship
A. Mutual Respect
B. Sincerity
C. Loyalty
D. Faithfulness
E. Honesty
F. Purity
G. Self-esteem

7. Decision Making
A. Free Will
B. Coercion
C. Responsibility
D. Exploitation
E. Peer Pressure
F. Character

Teacher’s Objectives for each class are explained in the Appendix. Parents will also benefit from the Appendix at the conclusion of the book, which includes references to today’s Catechism of the Catholic Church dealing with virtues.

If there ever was a time when moral courage was on trial, it is today. We can do much to foster virtues in our youth, and in the process, strengthen these same virtues within ourselves. Virtues are the first stepping stones leading to mature character development.

Let us not shy away from teaching virtues to our children. Not one of us is perfect. We begin, or begin again, right where we are. Let us bloom where we are planted, in the garden of our homes, families, neighborhoods and parishes. This is a positive step we can take to instill wholesome goodness in a world in want and need of virtues.

https://www.iuniverse.com/en/bookstore/bookdetails/809142-the-virtue-of-virtues

God Bless