While visiting the Aussie Coffee Shop – a delightful Catholic blog, I found something to share with you. So, for something a little light hearted and fun here are some amazing maths combinations….

12 x 8 + 2 = 98
123 x 8 + 3 = 987
1234 x 8 + 4 = 9876
12345 x 8 + 5 = 98765
123456 x 8 + 6 = 987654
1234567 x 8 + 7 = 9876543
12345678 x 8 + 8 = 98765432
123456789 x 8 + 9 = 987654321

How’s this….

1 x 9 + 2 = 11
12 x 9 + 3 = 111
123 x 9 + 4 = 1111
1234 x 9 + 5 = 11111
12345 x 9 + 6 = 111111
123456 x 9 + 7 = 1111111
1234567 x 9 + 8 = 11111111
12345678 x 9 + 9 = 111111111
123456789 x 9 +10= 1111111111

…or this…..

9 x 9 + 7 = 88
98 x 9 + 6 = 888
987 x 9 + 5 = 8888
9876 x 9 + 4 = 88888
98765 x 9 + 3 = 888888
987654 x 9 + 2 = 8888888
9876543 x 9 + 1 = 88888888
98765432 x 9 + 0 = 888888888

And look at this symmetry….
1 x 1 = 1
11 x 11 = 121
111 x 111 = 12321
1111 x 1111 = 1234321
11111 x 11111 = 123454321
111111 x 111111 = 12345654321
1111111 x 1111111 = 1234567654321
11111111 x 11111111 = 123456787654321
111111111 x 111111111 = 12345678987654321

Now, take a look at this ………. 101%
From a strictly mathematical viewpoint:

What Equals 100%?
What does it mean to give MORE than 100%?
Ever wonder about those people who say they are giving more than 100%?
We have all been in situations where someone wants you to
GIVE OVER 100%.
How about ACHIEVING 101%?
What equals 100% in life?

Here’s a little mathematical formula that might help
answer these questions:
If:

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Is represented as:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26

But:

A-T-T- I-T-U- D-E
1+20+20+9+20+ 21+4+5 = 100%

THEN, look how far the love of God will take you:

L-O-V-E-O-F- G-O-D
12+15+22+5+15+ 6+7+15+4 = 101%

Therefore, one can conclude with mathematical certainty that:
While Hard Work and Knowledge will get you close, and Attitude will
get you there, It’s the Love of God that will put you over the top!
How Cool is that!
Pleases share this with your friends & loved ones just the way I did.

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Today being the feast day of SS Michael, Gabriel and Raphael I felt led to write a short post as they are among my favourites.

St Michael – whose name means “Who is like God?”, is found in the Book of Daniel (chapters 10 & 12), the Book of Revelation (12:7-9) and the Letter of Jude (9). He is one of the principal angels.

St Gabriel – whose name means “Power of God”, is the archangel who stands in the presence of God (Luke 1:19). He is also found in the Book of Daniel (8: 16; 9:21) and in the New Testament (Luke1:10 and 19; Luke 1:26). He is the patron of postal, telephone and telegraph workers.

St Raphael – whose name means “God has healed”, is found in the Book of Tobit (12: 12 and 15). He is the patron of travellers.

Each of these archangels performs a different mission in Scripture: Michael protects; Gabriel announces; Raphael guides.

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I have just returned from a holiday camp at Apollo Bay. I’ve titled this post as a homeschoolers’ camp because most of the youth are homeschoolers; some have finished year 12 and begun their Uni course and some were friends who have joined their youth group – Xaviour Squad. A beautiful thing to watch was the youth who have grown up together, attended the same prayer meetings, socialised together, were homeschooled and celebrated many joyous occasions together.

To see them now enjoying life so much, and enjoying each other’s company as brothers and sisters is a joy and blessing. All one in heart and mind – there is harmony and peace between them. Praise the Lord for each one of them – fruits of the faithful work of their parents who gave them a solid foundation in their Catholic faith and taught them with listening hearts to the Holy Spirit.

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Oil painting of Our Lady of the Southern Cross by Paul Newton – Commissined by Cardinal George Pell for World Youth Day Sydney 2008.

This beautiful painting of the patroness of Australia now hangs in St Mary’s Cathedral in Sydney. Our Lady of the Southern Cross, Help of Christians is also patroness of WYD08.

Although the painting is of Mary she is focused completely on the child Jesus who is the centre of this work, and the centre of our focus – our saviour. Also included in this painting are typical Australian symbols -the Southern Cross in the night sky, a garland of wattles and Australian landscape as a background which has been inspired by the works of Australian artists such as Arthur Streeton and Tom Roberts.

This is such a beautiful painting I just had to post about it.  At the end of the Opening mass at Barangaroo in Sydney, a tall, unknown man came up to me and in great excitement he pointed out the Southern Cross in the night sky. The reason for his excitement was because the Southern Cross was directly above the alter….. and the WYD cross and icon were directly under it. Coincidence? I prefer to believe it was God-incidence. It’s one of those signs that sends an annointing through your body, and you just know it’s all part of God’s plan and that He has His hand over everything.

Wherever Jesus is present His blessed mother is also close by… it’s a special feeling to know this and to sense this at WYD08.

Our Lady of the Southern Cross, Help of Christians – Pray for us.

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The time is ripe for a pro-life youth movement and the youth of Australia, fresh from WYD in Sydney are fired up and ready for action. Empowered by the Holy Spirit they will fight for the unborn, the weak and vulnerable in our communitites. The group states -

We are youth who care about our country and our communities. Driven by our desire for people to know the truth on important issues such as abortion, we strive to get the truth out there, because so many people are misinformed and will suffer because of it.

Youth for Australia are currently acceptings members on XT3 an official World Youth Day Social Networking site. You need to register to be able to participate in the activites here -

Xt3.com is a site to help you connect with other young people interested in knowing more about the Catholic faith, to plug in to the Church and get to know what’s going on in your area. Whether you went to WYD or not, use Xt3 to connect with millions, make new friends, and keep in touch. You don’t have to be a Catholic, all you need to sign up is an email address.

Come along and join this enthusiastic group and take part in the fight for life.

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The Legislative Assembly voted 47 to 35 to support the Abortion Law Reform Bill. This was a closer-than-expected result but not what we wanted to happen. There is still a chance the Bill won’t get passed when it goes to the Upper House vote.

We must continue to pray and do our utmost to contact politicians urging them to vote against this Bill in its entirety. It is not too late to do what you can – Please contact your Regional Members.

There is a step by step guide here if you need help.
A list of the Members of the Legislative Council, by Election Region can be found here.

Hand write letters, phone them, visit them. They will vote on the 8th or 9th October. The 40 member vote will be extremely close. For us to defeat the Bill we need 20 votes – you and everyone you know must contact these Upper House Members, especially those identified as ‘key votes’. But don’t stop with your Regional Members, contact as many as possible.

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The Freedom to be Born march brought out a few thousand people last Saturday. A well organised and peaceful march through the streets of Melbourne’s CBD. It was lovely to see a great mumber of youth also taking part. There were many wonderful slogans to try and get the message across to women, pro-abortion groups and of course our State politicians -

Abortion has two victims: one dead and one wounded.

Abortion the Culture of Death

The Consequences of Abortions are Worse than you Think

Student Drs say Don’t Force Innocent Blood on our Hands

If you don’t want babies, don’t mate

Support mothers not abortion

We’re not allowed to kill a posum in our roof but we can kill a baby in the womb?

The pro-abortion group (I know they prefer to be called pro-choice but to me that sounds contradictory as the unborn has no choice) turned up as we gathered around the steps of Parliament House. They were a small group of only about 100 or so, and making a lot of noise. I believe they were due to have there gathering at 1pm but decided to gatecrash the pro-life one instead. Unfortunately their manners matched their character as Madeleine spoke giving her testimony of her abortion experience as a young teen. If only the pro-abortion group would have stopped to listen to her they may have picked up on her pain & suffering.

I met many beautiful people on the march. One young girl held up a sign which she explained – her little brother was born at 25 weeks, and he survived. He is now eight years old. If a baby can survive such a premature birth how can anyone say he is not a ‘human being’? 

We will continue to fight on for life and against the decriminalisation of abortion. We must also work at ‘educating’ people about abortion – the facts and consequences of this procedure as well as the fact that science proves that a baby IS a human being from conception and although he/she needs their mother’s womb they are independant of her.

I won’t go into discussion and facts as there are many wonderful web sites where one can research and learn more, and where women can also find support. Please take a look at some of them.

AFTER ABORTION
ABORTION FACTS
FEMINISTS FOR LIFE
ABORTION CONCERN
ABORTION TV
RIGHT TO LIFE AUSTRALIA

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On September 9th 2008, in the State parlaiment of Victoria, the debate to legalise abortion begins. You need to read The Abortion Law Reform Bill (Vic) 2008  to understand that it is an absolutely horrible legislation.

On September 6th Right to Life Australia has organised to march against this bill. Mark it on your calendar and organise your family, friends & supporters of all ages. This is not a time for being silent or hoping that ‘someone else’ will take care of things. It’s a time where our faith must be put into action. This debate is far too serious to ‘leave it to someone else’ to do the work to fight against it. Your voice must be heard.

The Freedom to be Born March will begin at 10.30am, Saturday September 6th.  Assemble at the Treasury Gardens - the Spring St. side.

Bring your own banners & placards or collect them from RTL on site on the day of the march.

The march is expected to finish approx 12.30 pm …. and the pro-abortion march will begin at 1pm.

This will be a peaceful march. If you can’t join the march, please pray.

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