CARLOS MICHAEL ONLINE

  Hello, Friends: Happy "first week" of the new year, 2021! I pray that you had a nice weekend. My weekend, which began on Friday was a mixture of Mass, prayer, reflection, dining out, shopping, spending time with my son (Matthew), watching football with Mr. Man (way to go Big XII), blogging, uploading a video blog (Episode #1), watching movies, and completing chores around the house. Speaking of movies I had the blessing of watching a movie together with my son Matthew and Mr. Man early Sunday afternoon. The title of the film which we watched on HBO Max  is, "Wonder Woman 1984." According to Christy Lemire , (Dec. 21, 2020), co-host of the YouTube film review show titled, "What The Flick",  wrote on the rogerebert .com  website: It’s an indictment of greed, of our entitled desire to have what we want and have it now. The story takes place at the height of Reagan-era conspicuous consumption, hence the title, but the point “WW84” is making about the destruc

  Hello, Friends, " Happy New Year! " Okay, so I am off by one day. " Happy New Year " just the same! I pray that you rang in the New Year with a prayer and the same hope and trust that should have been present with us during the previous year. That hope comes from having a personal and trusting relationship with the Good Shepherd, Our Lord, Jesus Christ. If you have trouble believing that someone like YOU can be and is loved by Jesus, think again. For the record, I used to believe that about myself as well. The truth of the matter is that this Jesus, the second person of the Holy Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) loves us so much that he would not only leave the 99 to look for the 1 (which is you and me), He loves us so much that he willingly sacrificed Himself on the cross that we might live eternally with him, the Father and the Holy Spirit in the life that is yet to come. What happened to me that caused me to look at myself differently than I did previously

  This is a re-post from a previous blog site. Hello, Friends! For almost two years now, those of you who are long-time listeners of  Coffee Break With Carlos Michael,  (2020, Carlos Michael Communications Media), undoubtedly are familiar with our core message. What is that core message? Our love for one another stems from God's love for us. Simply put,  We love because God loves us.  End of story. The second tier of our core message is the  J.O.Y. Rule! -- Jesus first. Others second. Yourself third. We cannot take credit for the J.O.Y. rule. According to the  Arborlawn  United Methodist Church website,  The J.O.Y. Rule, Pt. 1 , Aug. 10, 2020,  "The J.O.Y. Rule is meant to be a fun way to remember how to prioritize the people in your life; Jesus first, others second, and yourself third. Neighboring well to those in our closest circle requires that we first spend time with Jesus ." "Choosing Jesus first means that we are putting menial tasks aside in order to grow our

  Hello, Friends: I am hardpressed to believe that mother [may she rest in peace] has been gone two years this very day. She passed away on December 27, 2018, one day before my 57th birthday. Some may view that as a bummer, a bad omen, or just bad luck. I view it as a blessing -- a supernatural blessing. Metaphorically, the Lord called His daughter home [save any detour in Purgatory] two days after he came into the world and one day to the day I was born, December 28, 1961. How is that not a blessing? And unlike my brother and father, both of who passed away in the dog days of summer; the hottest month of the year to be in fact [August], I would say that mother got the best end of the deal. She passed from this life into the next during the month of Christmas -- one of her favorite seasons of the year. Sadly, this day almost escaped me. I did not realize until after returning home from Mass that today was the anniversary of my mother's birth. Yes, you heard me correctly. I prefer t

  Hello, Friends: At the time of this writing, I am listening to a beautiful line-up of Christmas songs sung by the late and exceptionally talented Ms. Whitney Houston  (1963-2012). How does someone so talented, beautiful, and gifted die so young? As I listen to this particular CD this day after Christmas I cannot help but think about just how blessed I truly am. I don't mean blessed  as if I were saying "bless you"  to someone who had just sneezed without giving any real thought to the blessing I just expressed. I am talking about deep-down inside the heart of my soul gratitude  to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit for a life lived that could not have been had the Lord not loved me since before time and memorial. While it is true that my life consisted of challenges that were great enough that I could have turned away from God and into a binge-drinking alcoholic, drug-addicted, inmate of a system that cared nothing about what I experienced in the course of that life journ

  Hello, Friends: "Merry Christmas. Happy Holidays. Season's Greetings. Happy Hanukkah. Happy Kwanza." I greet you in the peace of Christ on this glorious day. The King has been born! Except that OUR King will not be found in an opulent palace ladened with servants, attendants, fine linens, and hearty meals. No! Our King will be found in a stable where the animals bed down, wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a bed of straw inside a manger. What makes Our King the King of Kings and the Lord of Lord's is because this King, the Incarnate Word of God; the Second Person of the Holy Trinity who now shares a second nature; a human nature while still retaining His Divine Nature, has come among His creatures for no reason save for one -- love. A love that begins with the Father, the creator of all that has been, is, and always will be. When I express the words, "I love you" to another human being, what I am really saying is that I love God first and that my love