Immaculate heart of Mary

 Today is the feast of the Immaculate heart of Mary. It reminds of her great love for us and God. Of course you will be wanting to get along to confession and receive the Holy Eucharist in a state of grace. The holy rosary will be said too with private meditation on her pure life.

I read that there was a fire at Wellington airport. All those poor people who are tired after travelling and are now stuck in the cold...oh dear. Travelling in anything except your own car is dire. Aeroplanes are incredibly cramped.

Hours and hours of not even being able to straighten your legs. A couple of mini buses in the Phillipines we traveled in required sitting with my legs spread apart for hours because the seat in front was so close. One time we got into a more comfortable van but then the driver got diarrhoea and we had to change back to a cramped one. At one stage he pulled over and went on the side of the road!. My Australian companion wasn't sympathetic noting that he had watched the driver munching on sweets all the time! It's interesting looking around other countries but whether it is worth days of agonizing discomfort travelling there is questionable. Though stage coaches of the old west must have been the worst.

The truth of riding in them was nothing like in the movies. Evidently there were few toilet stops and commuters just had to go in their...well you know what I mean.

Relax at home for sure but go to church.

Finished

 

shower gibbed

 The Dunedin student flat shower is looking better already. The nice man spent all day ripping out the old one, repairing a stud that he said he 'swept away' being so badly damaged by water. He's done the plumbing for a new hand held shower head which someone will fit today.

He was also very knowledgeable about houseplants telling me the names of all those L had given me!

It has been a busy week working overtime everyday.

Have fun and go to confession if you sin.

Shower relined.

 No my shower isn't crooked. In fact it's stuffed. It drips, pours out in a single stream like a waterfall, and is damaged by mould.

Enter Shower King. They are ripping it out today and will be installing new lining and a hand held shower head. Eventually I'll repaint the rest of the room and vanity.

Ideally a whole new shower box would have been nice but its beyond my budget. Relining and a new shower head will be ok, the tray is a good old stainless steel one anyway. 

"Anyone who is angry with his brother will answer for it in the court, if a man calls his brother "fool" he will answer for it in the Sanhedrin; and if a man calls him "Renegade" he will answer for it in hell fire"....Jesus the Christ Mat 5:20-26

Have fun and don't call your brother names.

I chuckled when I saw this in a shop and thought of the Woodcock RBB frequently mentions?

Purchased in Boracay, Philippines. 

"The Lord is God"

 1 kings 18: 20-39

Matthew 5:17-19

Elijah stands alone, a solitary prophet against the followers of Baal. Baal is like the mythological God Zeus. Baal is the king (lit:Lord) of the false gods. Think Lord of the flies (baal-zebub). The top demon if you like. Satan himself maybe.

It reads like the Israelites have once again turned their backs on the real God. We don't do that eh? So it came to a showdown on Mt Carmel. Elijah vs 450 prophets of Baal. 

The game plan is the first one to get their God to set fire to an offering. The followers of Baal spend most of the day calling on Baal to set fire to the bull they have prepared. It doesn't happen.

Then Elijah steps forward and prepares his bull. In true Hollywood fashion he makes it harder by pouring water over his firewood. Then he prays:

"O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let them know today that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, that I have done all these things at your command. Answer me, Oh Lord answer me, that this people may know that you are God and are winning back their hearts".

In the Gospel Jesus reminds us that he has not come to abolish the law but to complete it. Some people think that Jesus replaced the commandments with a wishy washy love thing. That's not true. Love incapsulates everything. It's all inclusive in the Christian doctrine. I notice many Christians balk at going so far as to love. They think it reserved for just one or two favourites. They take offence at the mere mention or indication of love. I don't have to love everyone, right? Not that guy. He's a bit strange, not one of us! Or he's a bit creepy.

It's my second day back at work. I had the lawyer come around and update my will. We decided it best to make a few of my brothers executers, I'm sure they wont mind. I will not be here anyway. Hopefully I'll be able to watch. Nothing fancy please.

Yesterday morning at the last minute I couldn't find my swipe card. Oh no, I thought, my cars been broken into too! At last, several minutes after I was supposed to be at work I sat in the car resigned to have tell my supervisor I'd lost it. Then a thought popped into my head, guardian angel? "What was the last thing you did Robert before going on holiday?" 

"I changed out of my work clothes and put them in the back of the car". Just maybe...

yes they were in my trouser pocket. Praise the Lord!

Have fun but don't sin.

Tuesday

 Good morning. 

New Zealand is great.

Let your light shine before you, don't hide it under a bushel.

Have fun but don't sin.

I'm back

 We arrived back at midnight but were two hours at customs. L had brought back a lot of dried fish, the sniffer dog probably thought it smelled good so indicated to check the bag. Any way we got through eventually and got a taxi home.

L's son picked her up this morning and took her home. She thought I might be too tired. It allowed me to go to the phone company and get my old number put on my new phone.At least in theory. He said it would take two hours after I left. 10 minutes left. 

I'm feeling quite knackered and have lost a couple of kilos. Had a cough and runny nose all the time and my tummy's a bit sensitive still.

That's all. I'll have a quiet afternoon on the couch.