He's Alive!

                                In all the days we celebrate something, this is the MOST important. Jesus died for our sins then was raised on the third day.  He has risen in spite of Satan. God has overcome Satan. He is ours to claim victory over Satan as well.  In spite of how we hurt Jesus with our sinful ways, His love for us is never-ending and unwavering. There is no one on this earth that can do that for us. No one. So thankful to know Jesus as my Lord and Savior.

                                     
Growing up Catholic, we had to sit quietly 12-3 on Good Friday. We looked at Christian books, the Bible, and even a book of saints. I used to love reading the stories about the saints.
My patron saint was St. Bernadette. Here's some information about her.

Saint Bernadette Soubirous’s Story

Bernadette Soubirous was born in 1844, the first child of an extremely poor miller in the town of Lourdes in southern France. The family was living in the basement of a dilapidated building when on February 11, 1858, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to Bernadette in a cave above the banks of the Gave River near Lourdes. Bernadette, 14 years old, was known as a virtuous girl though a dull student who had not even made her first Holy Communion. In poor health, she had suffered from asthma from an early age.

There were 18 appearances in all, the final one occurring on the feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, July 16. Although Bernadette’s initial reports provoked skepticism, her daily visions of “the Lady” brought great crowds of the curious. The Lady, Bernadette explained, had instructed her to have a chapel built on the spot of the visions. There, the people were to come to wash in and drink of the water of the spring that had welled up from the very spot where Bernadette had been instructed to dig.

According to Bernadette, the Lady of her visions was a girl of 16 or 17 who wore a white robe with a blue sash. Yellow roses covered her feet, a large rosary was on her right arm. In the vision on March 25 she told Bernadette, “I am the Immaculate Conception.” It was only when the words were explained to her that Bernadette came to realize who the Lady was.

Few visions have ever undergone the scrutiny that these appearances of the Immaculate Virgin were subject to. Lourdes became one of the most popular Marian shrines in the world, attracting millions of visitors. Miracles were reported at the shrine and in the waters of the spring. After thorough investigation, Church authorities confirmed the authenticity of the apparitions in 1862.

During her life, Bernadette suffered much. She was hounded by the public as well as by civic officials until at last she was protected in a convent of nuns. Five years later, she petitioned to enter the Sisters of Notre Dame. After a period of illness she was able to make the journey from Lourdes and enter the novitiate. But within four months of her arrival she was given the last rites of the Church and allowed to profess her vows. She recovered enough to become infirmarian and then sacristan, but chronic health problems persisted. She died on April 16, 1879, at the age of 35.

Bernadette Soubirous was canonized in 1933.

He has risen.

He has risen indeed!

I saw this on FB and it spoke to me. Some days it's hard to be the woman God wants me to be.

This is a new song for me from Casting Crowns. It sure does speak for me at some times. It's so hard sometimes to step out in faith and do what God needs me to do. I'm learning that I need to just 'do it,' when I sense what God needs me to do.


Verse of the Day:
John 7:38



Blessing of the Day: All siblings are in town today for Easter to visit Mom. What a glorious day it will be.

Blessings,