Thank you St. Joseph's of the Palisades!

Tonight was a privilege to give a night of Reflection to the congregation of St. Joseph's in West New York, NJ...Special thanks to Fr. Nelson who orchestrated everything.  It really was a beautiful night of healing and deep intimacy with God.  i pray everyone in attendance will become God Chasers..the saints we are all called to be.....and therefore encourage many more to do the same.  To God Alone be all the Glory and Power and Honor and Praise .....i will give all the Scripture Verses i used during the retreat in my next post....here is One for now....It was used to open my talk...and then again later on in the night....if you or your group or parish would like for me to come and speak/sing....you can scroll down on this page and leave me a comment with your contact info...name, phone,church and location of the church and i will get back to you.  All comments will only be read by me unless i decide to post them.  thanks....til next time...

Zephanaih3:17-18A

17The LORD, your God, is in your midst,

a mighty savior,

Who will rejoice over you with gladness,

and renew you in his love,

Who will sing joyfully because of you,

18as on festival days.

Приветствую моих русских друзей! Welcome my Russian Friends!

Какая радость видеть 19 человек из России, читающих мой блог сегодня. Хвала Иисусу Христу! Спасибо, что присоединились к нам. Будьте уверены в моих молитвах за вас и всех тех, кого вы любите. Мир! angie

What a joy to see 19 people from Russia reading my blog today.  Praised be Jesus Christ!  Thank you for joining us.  Be assured of my prayers for you and all those you love.  Peace! angie

Join me March 31st in West New York, NJ

Unsure why the picture of the flyer is gone....so

Friday, March 31st...7-9....St Joseph's Upper Church 65th and Palisade Ave. West New York, NJ
Night of Reflection...Music and Talk by me.....hope you can attend...

Just Love on Him!

i have found God loves when we are like little children trusting Our Daddy to already know what we need and what we want.  i often just sit with Jesus and let Him do His Work on me.... allowing Him to Love me and i love Him back...trusting He is Perfect and wants and knows what is best for me and all those i love.  i am not in charge...God does not have to do things my way because His Way is always better.  This is a growing up in the spiritual life.  It is not a give me this ...give me that...relationship.  It must grow from that childish attitude of God being like Santa Clause... there just to give me anything i ask for, to a mature loving relationship....deep intimate..The old way is obsessive compulsive...thinking our repetition of requests will force Him to do as we want.  There is nothing wrong with asking God for specific needs, but that cannot be our only prayer life...and should never be the first...Loving Him...and Him loving us should always be first  This is the lesson in growth spiritually.  His Perfect Will and the courage to carry it out.  Let's just love on Him...and trust He will take Perfect Care of all the rest!  Peace

Praise Jesus!

til next time....

Discerning The Voice of God...

As a simple follow up to my last blog...remember...God plays no favorites...The saints had nothing over us...learning to discern Gods Input in our lives and have confirmations clarifying things for us are for everyone...not just a select few...God loves all of us equally........but He comes to those who chase Him and those who continue to want to spend time with Him, know Him and obey Him....He does not force Himself on anyone...He is a Gentleman ...the picture of Jesus standing at the door of our heart knocking has no handle for Jesus to open the door.  We have to open it from the inside...free will...our choice....

the funny thing is i have always spoken for many years the phrase ,"God play no favorites" privately when giving spiritual direction....publicly at retreats and choir practises...i use this phrase often....and only recently i heard this phrase read from the Holy Bible...What a confirmation for me...wow...God gives The Same Wisdom to His People...and they sound similar ....those from the year 100....1000....or 2017....The Same God continues to grow His People up teaching us His Ways....i had no idea this was a Scriptural Comment on favorites....i just felt led to always say this word that i knew in my heart was Truth....and God many years later confirmed that it was His Word...not mine...

Keep chasing God...."the more you chase Him the more you catch Him!" Maimonides

til next time....Deuteronomy 10:17

17"For the LORD, your God, is the God of gods, the Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who has no favorites, accepts no bribes,...."

How God works....Discernment

God is Wonderful and for those of us walking close to Him it becomes more and more evident of His Workings in our lives.  Two days ago i was inspired to write the last blog on His Mercy....With no agenda or notes, or reference materials, i prayed and then wrote what came to my heart to share.  Nothing magical, nothing greatly intellectual....just heart...and i quoted Is 1:18

18"Come now, let us set things right,

says the LORD:

Though your sins be like scarlet,

they may become white as snow;

Though they be red like crimson,

they may become white as wool."

Today, in this blizzard, i got up and knew the only thing i wanted to do today was go to Mass....to encounter Jesus in His Holy Word and receive Him in The Eucharist....to ask forgiveness of my sins...and pray for the world at large.....off i went.  The roads were silent and still...everyone still warm sleeping and i was the only parishioner that made it there.  Obviously it was an Ordained Moment by God Himself.  The priest asked for me to read the Scripture Reading and Psalm.  And then there was my wink from God....the weaving He does in the lives of His Children....The first reading was from the Book of Isaiah verse 10 and 16-20...

Reading 1   IS 1:10, 16-20

Hear the word of the LORD,
princes of Sodom!
Listen to the instruction of our God,
people of Gomorrah!

Wash yourselves clean!
Put away your misdeeds from before my eyes;
cease doing evil; learn to do good.
Make justice your aim: redress the wronged,
hear the orphan's plea, defend the widow.

Come now, let us set things right,
says the LORD:
Though your sins be like scarlet,
they may become white as snow;
Though they be crimson red,
they may become white as wool.
If you are willing, and obey,
you shall eat the good things of the land;
But if you refuse and resist,
the sword shall consume you:
for the mouth of the LORD has spoken!

When we doubt whether what we are doing is from Him....when we are not clear in how to discern things of God...He, in His Mercy, shows up with a sign....two days later, the same chapter and message  i wrote about  is right on the page before me to read at Mass.  Praise His Holy Name!   And so the message for all of us from God Himself is Is 1.....

Let us stay sincerely close to God...seeking Him...chasing Him...for then He, in His Great Love for us, will continue to inspire His Children with Dreams, Inspirations, Goals and will confirm them to help us know we are hearing from Him and that these thoughts and ideas are not our own.  This is Discernment...we don't have to literally hear from God although many of the great saints did, He will confirm things inch by inch...one situation at a time...to His simple humble people who really really Love Him!

til next time...be safe in the snow for those affected by it....and be assured of my continued prayers...ang

Sin..Acknowlegement..ask forgiveness, & then MERCY!!!

Second Sunday of Lent....

Sin....a topic no one likes to talk about.  We are all sinners and yet most people keep saying, i am a good person, i don't do anything wrong.  What scale are they using to measure?...Romans 3:23 says
23"all have sinned and are deprived of the glory of God"

The very first step to improvement is recognizing our weakness and admitting them...confessing them and asking for forgiveness.  Jesus was very clear...when speaking about murder in the Ten Commandments, in Matthew 5:21-22  He said,
21“You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, ‘You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment.’22 But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment, and whoever says to his brother, ‘Raqa,’ will be answerable to the Sanhedrin, and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ will be liable to fiery Gehenna."(The Jews used Raqa as a word of contempt. It is derived from a root meaning "to spit.")


Jesus makes it clear that even the smallest letter of the law will be held in Mt 5:18-19

18"Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law, until all things have taken place.19Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven."

So the above is clear and strong and strict and justice ....but with this comes another side of God that always shows Mercy to be One of His Greatest Attributes.  The criteria for forgiveness is evaluating the act, listening to our conscience, confessing and admitting we have done wrong and then asking for forgiveness.  If we do this, Mercy wins as stated in Is 1:18

18"Come now, let us set things right,

says the LORD:

Though your sins be like scarlet,

they may become white as snow;

Though they be red like crimson,

they may become white as wool."

Psalm 103:12

12"As far as the east is from the west,

so far has he removed our sins from us."

God's Mercy is Endless when we are truly sorry.  At Mass on EWTN, The Catholic Television Network, a young priest spoke well this week when he said we do not just become deep in sin in one instant, but we slip one little mistake at a time...it is a slipping.......little by little we allow things and we slide and slide until we are very far from God and His Ways.  This priest quoted Emily Dickinson's poem, Crumbling is not an instant's Act. 

Crumbling is not an instant's Act

A fundamental pause

Dilapidation's processes (to cause or allow (our soul) to fall into a state of disrepair, as by misuse or neglect )

Are organized Decays —

'Tis first a Cobweb on the Soul

A Cuticle of Dust

A Borer in the Axis (something that makes a hole)

An Elemental Rust —

Ruin is formal — Devil's work

Consecutive and slow —

Fail in an instant, no man did

Slipping — is Crashe's law —(law of physics...what brings on a crash)

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

So it is time to reflect....can i easily admit i do make mistakes and do things that are wrong?...do i feel God deserves my best and in order to receive forgiveness, i must ask for it?...do i want to grow and improve day by day to become,  as Matthew Kelly the Catholic Author says,"The Best Version of Myself'?  

Then i must look at my life daily...examine my conscience each night to see if there are any cobwebs on my soul...any cuticle of dust so as to root it out before each slip leads to an emptiness and distance between me and my Creator.  Don't be afraid to read the entire chapter of the Scriptures i quoted above.  

Above everything else, pray...because only God has a way of gently giving True Understanding to these Truths in our minds, bodies and souls.  And then little by little we will evolve into the saint we were created to be.  All takes time and is a deep and slow process...be patient with yourself...and God will help us balance between shame and guilt when we do something that is wrong (which is gotten rid of upon confession and asking forgiveness)...and being shamed and guilty as a human being.....He will help balance being scrupulous (being too concerned with minute details with our sins in an unhealthy way)...and thinking we do nothing wrong....

He loves us....He loves you and me...What more do we need...Til next time...keep chasing Him!!!!

Lamentations 3....Our Greatest Hope!  Be encouraged!

20Remembering it (sin) over and over,

my soul is downcast.

21But this I will call to mind;

therefore I will hope:

22The LORD’s acts of mercy are not exhausted,

his compassion is not spent;

23They are renewed each morning—

great is your faithfulness!

orang menyambut Indonesia!

apa indah kejutan untuk memiliki pengunjung dari Indonesia. SELAMAT DATANG! Ini merupakan suatu kehormatan untuk memiliki Anda mengunjungi blog saya. saya berharap kata-kata di sini mendorong Anda untuk terus melakukan perjalanan untuk mencari Allah yang Hidup! Tuhan memberkati! angie

(Welcome to people from Indonesia) what a lovely surprise to have visitors from Indonesia.  Welcome!  It is a privilege to have you visiting my blog.  i hope the words here encourage you to continue journeying to finding the Living God!  God bless!  angie

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Spread the word!

If everyone who reads this blog and finds it a help passes it on to a few others we have the chance of touching many more lives.  This was the reason i started this blog.....Please consider doing this in your own circle of family and friends...1678 pageviews since Nov 15th....which means so far approximately 419 people are on the site every month.... people from  Poland, Australia, Germany ,Spain and the US are active. Let's continue to pray for each other and chase God together!  thanks, angie

angierotella-suarez.blogspot.com

Bienvenidos a la gente de España!

Estoy muy feliz de ver gente de España leyendo mi blog. Estudié mi último semestre de universidad en la Universidad de Sevilla. Que fue una experiencia maravillosa que nunca olvidaré. Espero y rezo este blog ayudará a todos los que visiten esta página a estar más cerca de Dios. Que Dios los bendiga y les agradezca por unirse a nosotros.

(a welcome to those from Spain who have joined us)

i am so happy to see people from Spain reading my blog. i studied my last semester of College in the University of Seville. That was a wonderful experience i will never forget. i hope and pray this blog will help all those who visit this page become closer to God. God bless you and thank you for joining us.

One week of Lent past...how did we do?

We have just completed one week during this most Holy Season of Lent.  Let's take time to review how we did in our spiritual journey this week.

1.  Prayer Life....the central most important part of our day....this is the fertilizer to the ground for all we look to accomplish.....it is our Prayer Life that plugs us in to God....it fills our cup....it soothes and heals as only Our Creator can......it clarifies what is important to do that day...it is joy giving....strengthening....correcting....teaching....loving....healing....life giving....the list is endless...so let's look at the first and most important part of any moment in our lives....prayer...including things like...spiritual reading...talking to God...Bible....Mass....silence....a good book on the life of a saint...the Divine Office...Confession....Worship music....the list goes on and on....take some time to look at this today, so the next week can get even better....

2.  Actions:  This is a direct result of number one.  We can make a list of things to do in a day...but if we pray first...that list might be very different....God's will for us differs from our own...He will surely include self care, reaching to those in need, motivation, and very creative things we might not have done or thought of on our own.  We are all here for a purpose...we may understand some of the purpose, but logically we cannot understand it all.  God, who made us...has something very important for us to do while here on this earth.  So let's really re-evaluate our Lenten Journey with Him...seeking His Counsel, His Guidance, His Wisdom, His Perfect Will, and have courage to follow that counsel and do life His Way!

These are the two....prayer life coincides with Jesus' Words, "Love the Lord Your God"...and Actions with "Love your neighbor as yourself"....

till next time....let's read this Scripture and apply it to our lives...Mark 12:28-34

a very fruitful and blessed Lent to all of us! (click on one post subject line....ck below, something new.....there is a comment box at the end of each blog if you are interested..i have to preview and approve any comments, before they are published... and if you scroll all the way down, you can subscribe to this blog on your email by putting your email address in the box at the bottom of the page...you will be notified every time i write...God bless!)

28  One of the scribes, when he came forward and heard them disputing and saw how well he had answered them, asked him, “Which is the first of all the commandments?”

29Jesus replied, “The first is this: ‘Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone!30You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’31The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”32The scribe said to him, “Well said, teacher. You are right in saying, ‘He is One and there is no other than he.’33And ‘to love him with all your heart, with all your understanding, with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself’ is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”34And when Jesus saw that [he] answered with understanding, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And no one dared to ask him any more questions.

Welcome Australia!

Just a note of welcome to all readers from Australia!  i have a special love for your country because my Father served in WWII in New Guinea.  Maybe someday i can visit in his memory!

God bless! ang