All of us together form the church. Who is the centre of the church? Jesus is the centre. How is Jesus most present to us? In the Blessed Sacrament. Today’s feast is the feast of the very centre and heart of our church, the centre and heart of our faith, and the centre and heart of parish, the centre and heart of the lives of each of us, Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. Today’s feast is most important.
I know that some find it difficult to believe that bread and wine change into the Body and Blood of Jesus. I can understand your doubts. We don’t see any change in the bread or wine. There is no difference in the taste; the bread still tastes like bread and the wine still tastes like wine. It is going against logic to say that the bread and wine change into the Body and Blood of Jesus despite no change in appearance. Scientifically it is flawed to say that a change has occurred.
But when it comes to believing in God we need to surrender our intellect to faith. As Paul says, in the Christian life we go by faith and not by sight (2 Cor 5:7). We need to be humble and be open to God performing a miracle every day in this church. Can you be humble enough to admit that you do not know it all, and that not knowing it all it is possible for bread and wine to become the Body and Blood of Jesus while keeping the same appearance? Can you sacrifice your control and submit to God? When you submit to God you will not lose anything, you will gain everything. There is a beautiful chant, “Trust, surrender, believe, receive.” Surrender your logic to God and receive the love of God for you! Surrender to God and receive his love.
To help us surrender and believe, from time to time, God has allowed visible miracles of the Eucharist to occur, Eucharistic Miracles as we call them. These are miracles that occurred during Mass when the bread changed into the form of flesh during the consecration and the wine changed into the form of blood during the consecration. Many such Eucharistic Miracles have occurred in various parts of the world and throughout the two millennia of Christian history and have been authenticated by the Church.
In the year 1263 a priest from Prague was on route to Rome making a pilgrimage asking God for help to strengthen his faith since he was having doubts about his vocation. Along the way he stopped in a Bolsena 70 miles north of Rome. While celebrating Mass there, as he raised the host during the consecration, the bread turned into flesh and began to bleed. The drops of blood fell onto the small white cloth on the altar, called the corporal. The following year, 1264, Pope Urban IV instituted the feast of the Body and Blood of Jesus, today’s feast Corpus Christi. The Pope asked St Thomas Aquinas, living at that time, to write hymns for the feast and he wrote two, better known to the older members of our congregation, the Tantum Ergo and O Salutaris. That blood-stained corporal may still be seen in the Basilica of Orvieto north of Rome, and I had the privilege of seeing it during the time I lived in Italy.
Although that is the eucharistic miracle that led to the institution of this feast, a more famous eucharistic miracle is the eucharistic miracle of Lanciano, also in Italy, which took place many centuries earlier, in the year 700. A monk who feared he was losing his vocation was celebrating Mass, and during the consecration the host turned into flesh and the wine turned into blood. Despite the fact that that miracle took place almost 1300 years ago you may still see the flesh in a monstrance which is exposed every day and the blood in a glass chalice. I also had the privilege of seeing that eucharistic miracle during my time in Italy. The blood has congealed and is now in five clots in the glass chalice. In 1971 and 1981 a hospital laboratory tested the flesh and blood and discovered that the flesh is myocardium, that is heart muscular tissue, so we could say it is the heart of Jesus, the Sacred Heart, and the blood is of the blood group AB positive. In 1978 NASA scientists tested the blood on the Turin Shroud and interestingly also discovered that it is of the blood group AB positive. (The Sudarium, Face Cloth of Christ, mentioned in John 20:6 is also of the blood group AB positive.) Despite the fact that human flesh and blood should not have remained preserved for 1300 years the hospital lab tests found no trace of any preservatives. One final interesting point about the five blood clots in the chalice is that when you weigh one of them, it is the same weight as all five together, two of them together weigh the same as all five. In fact no matter what way you combine the blood clots individually or in a group to weigh them, they always weigh the same. (This shows that the full Jesus is present in a particle of the Eucharist no matter how small.)
These are two eucharistic miracles I have seen and which have been authenticated by the Church after investigation. In spiritual books you will read of many more eucharistic miracles throughout the world which have been authenticated by the Church. All of these authenticated eucharistic miracles throughout the world are surely an answer to any doubts we may have about Jesus in the Eucharist. Jesus is really with us in the Eucharist. Jesus comes to us in every Mass under the form of bread and wine. The Eucharist is a celebration of the love of Jesus for us, his blood shed for us in love and his body scourged, crowned with thorns and crucified for us. The wine poured and the bread broken is the love of Jesus for us, body and blood given for us. Because the Eucharist is the love of Jesus for us we always approach Jesus in the Eucharist with great respect and asking pardon for our sins. That’s why it is so necessary at the start of every Mass to ask Jesus for mercy because we are so unworthy of his love and again before receiving Jesus we express our unworthiness: ‘Lord I am not worthy to receive you but only say the word and I shall be healed.’ Think of how precious a moment in our Mass it is when we receive Jesus in Holy Communion. When we receive Jesus, Jesus is in us and we are with Jesus. It is like what Genesis says about the marriage of man and woman, no longer two but one. It is the same when we receive Jesus. We are no longer two but one. ‘He who eats my flesh abides in me and I in him’ (John 6:57).
I know some find it difficult to believe that bread and wine change into the Body and Blood of Jesus. You can only accept this if you are humble enough to admit that you do not know it all, and that your reason and logic do not hold the answer to everything. To help us in our weak faith, from time to time, God has given us Eucharistic Miracles so that we may believe always in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. Come to Jesus, not like a scientist trying to analyze but come in trust, surrender, believe and receive his love. Say to Jesus that you believe he is really present in the Blessed Sacrament and gradually grow from merely believing to loving Jesus and being loved by Jesus. Come to visit Jesus in the Tabernacle here in church often where you will have a wonderful opportunity to trust, surrender, believe and receive the love of Jesus. Because I love Jesus in the Eucharist so much one of the spare rooms in my house is now a prayer room with Jesus in a Tabernacle. Because our diocese loves Jesus in the Eucharist so much we have Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration in every town in our diocese. Every hour of every day and night, our diocese is trusting, surrendering, believing and receiving the love of Jesus in the Eucharist. Trust, surrender, believe in and receive the love of Jesus for you in the Eucharist.
As a symbol of our love for Jesus we will carry him in procession tonight. It is also a symbol of Jesus’ love for us. We cannot carry Jesus through every street or road in our parish but nevertheless we know that Jesus is with us and loves us, his blood is poured out for us and his body broken for us. As Jesus passes you in the Blessed Sacrament adore him and thank him for all that he has done for us unworthy sinners. Also as Jesus passes you in the Blessed Sacrament ask him for whatever healing you need. Try to put words on the deepest healing of your life that you need and ask Jesus to heal you. At Masses for healing, the healing always occurs when people are blessed with Jesus in the monstrance. Jesus in the monstrance will pass you by tonight. Adore him, love him and ask him for help. He is waiting for you. Remember the words of the consecration of every Mass recalling Jesus giving himself for us, ‘This is my Body which will be given up for you....This is the cup of my blood. It will be shed for you...’
May Jesus in the Eucharist always be the very centre and heart of our church, the centre and heart of our faith, the centre and heart of parish, and the centre and heart of the lives of each of us.
O Sacrament most holy,
Saturday, April 19, 2008
money
The Old Fisherman
Our house was directly across the street from the clinic entrance of John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. We lived downstairs and rented the upstairs rooms to out patients at the clinic. One summer evening as I was fixing supper, there was a knock at the door. I opened it to see a truly awful looking man. “Why, he’s hardly taller than my eight-year-old,” I thought as I stared at the stooped, shriveled body. But the appalling thing was his face -- lopsided from swelling, red and raw. Yet his voice was pleasant as he said, “Good evening. I’ve come to see if you’ve a room for just one night. I came for a treatment this morning from the eastern shore, and there’s no bus ‘til morning.” He told me he’d been hunting for a room since noon but with no success, no one seemed to have a room. “I guess it’s my face...I know it looks terrible, but my doctor says with a few more treatments...” For a moment I hesitated, but his next words convinced me: “I could sleep in this rocking chair on the porch. My bus leaves early in the morning.” I told him we would find him a bed, but to rest on the porch. I went inside and finished getting supper. When we were ready, I asked the old man if he would join us. “No thank you. I have plenty.” And he held up a brown paper bag. When I had finished the dishes, I went out on the porch to talk with him a few minutes. It didn’t take a long time to see that this old man had an oversized heart crowded into that tiny body. He told me he fished for a living to support his daughter, her five children, and her husband, who was hopelessly crippled from a back injury. He didn’t tell it by way of complaint; in fact, every other sentence was preface with a thanks to God for a blessing. He was grateful that no pain accompanied his disease, which was apparently a form of skin cancer. He thanked God for giving him the strength to keep going. At bedtime, we put a camp cot in the spare room for him. When I got up in the morning, the bed linens were neatly folded and the little man was out on the porch. He refused breakfast, but just before he left for his bus, haltingly, as if asking a great favor, he said, “Could I please come back and stay the next time I have a treatment? I won’t put you out a bit. I can sleep fine in a chair.” He paused a moment and then added, “Your children made me feel at home. Grownups are bothered by my face, but children don’t seem to mind.” I told him he was welcome to come again. And on his next trip he arrived a little after seven in the morning. As a gift, he brought a big fish and a quart of the largest oysters I had ever seen. He said he had shucked them that morning before he left so that they’d be nice and fresh. I knew his bus left at 4:00 a.m. and I wondered what time he had to get up in order to do this for us. In the years he came to stay overnight with us there was never a time that he did not bring us fish or oysters or vegetables from his garden. Other times we received packages in the mail, always by special delivery; fish and oysters packed in a box of fresh young spinach or kale, every leaf carefully washed. Knowing that he must walk three miles to mail these, and knowing how little money he had made the gifts doubly precious. When I received these little remembrances, I often thought of a comment our next-door neighbor made after he left that first morning. “Did you keep that awful looking man last night? I turned him away! You can lose roomers by putting up such people!” Maybe we did lose roomers once or twice. But oh! If only they could have known him, perhaps their illness’ would have been easier to bear. I know our family always will be grateful to have known him; from him we learned what it was to accept the bad without complaint and the good with gratitude to God. Recently I was visiting a friend who has a greenhouse, As she showed me her flowers, we came to the most beautiful one of all, a golden chrysanthemum, bursting with blooms. But to my great surprise, it was growing in an old dented, rusty bucket. I thought to myself, “If this were my plant, I’d put it in the loveliest container I had!” My friend changed my mind. “I ran short of pots,” she explained, “and knowing how beautiful this one would be, I thought it wouldn’t mind starting out in this old pail. It’s just for a little while, till I can put it out in the garden.” She must have wondered why I laughed so delightedly, but I was imagining just such a scene in heaven. “Here’s an especially beautiful one,” God might have said when he came to the soul of the sweet old fisherman. “He won’t mind starting in this small body.” All this happened long ago and now, in God’s garden, how tall this lovely soul must stand. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7b)
Our house was directly across the street from the clinic entrance of John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. We lived downstairs and rented the upstairs rooms to out patients at the clinic. One summer evening as I was fixing supper, there was a knock at the door. I opened it to see a truly awful looking man. “Why, he’s hardly taller than my eight-year-old,” I thought as I stared at the stooped, shriveled body. But the appalling thing was his face -- lopsided from swelling, red and raw. Yet his voice was pleasant as he said, “Good evening. I’ve come to see if you’ve a room for just one night. I came for a treatment this morning from the eastern shore, and there’s no bus ‘til morning.” He told me he’d been hunting for a room since noon but with no success, no one seemed to have a room. “I guess it’s my face...I know it looks terrible, but my doctor says with a few more treatments...” For a moment I hesitated, but his next words convinced me: “I could sleep in this rocking chair on the porch. My bus leaves early in the morning.” I told him we would find him a bed, but to rest on the porch. I went inside and finished getting supper. When we were ready, I asked the old man if he would join us. “No thank you. I have plenty.” And he held up a brown paper bag. When I had finished the dishes, I went out on the porch to talk with him a few minutes. It didn’t take a long time to see that this old man had an oversized heart crowded into that tiny body. He told me he fished for a living to support his daughter, her five children, and her husband, who was hopelessly crippled from a back injury. He didn’t tell it by way of complaint; in fact, every other sentence was preface with a thanks to God for a blessing. He was grateful that no pain accompanied his disease, which was apparently a form of skin cancer. He thanked God for giving him the strength to keep going. At bedtime, we put a camp cot in the spare room for him. When I got up in the morning, the bed linens were neatly folded and the little man was out on the porch. He refused breakfast, but just before he left for his bus, haltingly, as if asking a great favor, he said, “Could I please come back and stay the next time I have a treatment? I won’t put you out a bit. I can sleep fine in a chair.” He paused a moment and then added, “Your children made me feel at home. Grownups are bothered by my face, but children don’t seem to mind.” I told him he was welcome to come again. And on his next trip he arrived a little after seven in the morning. As a gift, he brought a big fish and a quart of the largest oysters I had ever seen. He said he had shucked them that morning before he left so that they’d be nice and fresh. I knew his bus left at 4:00 a.m. and I wondered what time he had to get up in order to do this for us. In the years he came to stay overnight with us there was never a time that he did not bring us fish or oysters or vegetables from his garden. Other times we received packages in the mail, always by special delivery; fish and oysters packed in a box of fresh young spinach or kale, every leaf carefully washed. Knowing that he must walk three miles to mail these, and knowing how little money he had made the gifts doubly precious. When I received these little remembrances, I often thought of a comment our next-door neighbor made after he left that first morning. “Did you keep that awful looking man last night? I turned him away! You can lose roomers by putting up such people!” Maybe we did lose roomers once or twice. But oh! If only they could have known him, perhaps their illness’ would have been easier to bear. I know our family always will be grateful to have known him; from him we learned what it was to accept the bad without complaint and the good with gratitude to God. Recently I was visiting a friend who has a greenhouse, As she showed me her flowers, we came to the most beautiful one of all, a golden chrysanthemum, bursting with blooms. But to my great surprise, it was growing in an old dented, rusty bucket. I thought to myself, “If this were my plant, I’d put it in the loveliest container I had!” My friend changed my mind. “I ran short of pots,” she explained, “and knowing how beautiful this one would be, I thought it wouldn’t mind starting out in this old pail. It’s just for a little while, till I can put it out in the garden.” She must have wondered why I laughed so delightedly, but I was imagining just such a scene in heaven. “Here’s an especially beautiful one,” God might have said when he came to the soul of the sweet old fisherman. “He won’t mind starting in this small body.” All this happened long ago and now, in God’s garden, how tall this lovely soul must stand. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7b)
good spirit
Good in the Midst of Evil
Elie Wiesel in his book Night, which describes his time in two concentration camps together with father, shows us that love is stronger than evil. Many times during the book we see the love of Elie and his father for each other. It shows that good overcomes evil. For example, in Auschwitz Elie tells how his father brought him extra food,
“My father had brought me a present - half a ration of bread obtained in exchange for a piece of rubber, found at the warehouse, which would do to sole a shoe.” Night 69.
In the camp at Buchenwald as his father’s health was deteriorating in the infirmary, it was Elie’s turn to sacrifice food.
“For a ration of bread, I managed to change beds with a prisoner in my father’s bunk. In the afternoon the doctor came. I went and told him that my father was very ill.” Night 103.
May families always remain united in love, especially in difficult times.
Elie Wiesel in his book Night, which describes his time in two concentration camps together with father, shows us that love is stronger than evil. Many times during the book we see the love of Elie and his father for each other. It shows that good overcomes evil. For example, in Auschwitz Elie tells how his father brought him extra food,
“My father had brought me a present - half a ration of bread obtained in exchange for a piece of rubber, found at the warehouse, which would do to sole a shoe.” Night 69.
In the camp at Buchenwald as his father’s health was deteriorating in the infirmary, it was Elie’s turn to sacrifice food.
“For a ration of bread, I managed to change beds with a prisoner in my father’s bunk. In the afternoon the doctor came. I went and told him that my father was very ill.” Night 103.
May families always remain united in love, especially in difficult times.
god grace
Alexander Solzhenitsyn had been in the Gulag, a Soviet prison camp. He had been forced to do back-breaking labor until he came to the point of exhaustion. With little food and little rest, he was constantly watched by guards and never allowed to communicate with another human being. Never permitted a newspaper or magazine from the outside, he came to believe that he was forgotten by everyone, even God. In his despair, he decided to commit suicide, but he could not reconcile that act with the teachings of the Bible. Then he decided to end his misery by trying an escape, knowing that he would surely be shot. He rationalized that his death would then be at the hands of another and not his own doing. The appointed day came when he would put his fateful plan into action. Sitting under a tree during a brief respite from work, he glanced at the guards to see where they were positioned. Just as he started to jump and run, a prisoner he had never seen before stood in front of him. Looking into his eyes, Solzhenitsyn said he could see more love than he had ever seen before emanating from the eyes of another human being. The prisoner stooped down with a small twig in his hand and began to draw the symbol of the cross in the soil of Soviet Russia. When Solzhenitsyn saw the cross, he knew God had not forsaken him. He knew God was right there beside him in his deepest pit. Little did he realize that at that very moment, Christians all over the world were praying for his release, and within three days he would be sitting in Geneva, Switzerland, a free man.
I was reminded of that story from the book Battle Fatigue by Joe Brown by Habbakuk in our first reading today praying to God,
How long, O Lord? I cry for helpBut you do not listen!I cry to you “Violence!”But you do not intervene.
Was Habakkuk praying without faith? He said to God, “you do not listen”, “you do not intervene.” How often when a crisis comes we concentrate on the crisis instead of on God. This is the common fault of humanity, the fault of Solzhenitsyn; our faith is strong when everything is going well, but when the crisis hits we pray like Habakkuk but also like Habakkuk we say “you do not listen”, “you do not intervene” and we have questions about God and we wonder if God exists or even if God is gone on holidays. Every time the Hebrews after escaping from Egypt suffered a setback in the desert they complained and said, it was better in Egypt, we should never have left. What a short memory they had, forgetting the miracle of the exodus. In one sense we could say the great sin of the Old Testament is forgetting, the Chosen People forgot what God had done for them and instead only looked at the difficulties around them and then they sinned.
Crises are an opportunity for us to grow, there is more growth in the valleys than in the mountain tops. And we will have many of these opportunities. Someone has said we have a crisis every year and a major crisis every decade. Crises are an opportunity for us to grow in faith. God responded to Habakkuk encouraging faith, God said,
…the just one, because of his faith, shall live.
We have been blessed down through the centuries with wonderful examples of faith even in the midst of despair and darkness. On Friday we celebrated the feast of St Thérèse of Lisieux and this is what Cardinal Basil Hume wrote of her,
“In 1987 I visited St Thérèse’s cell in the Carmel of Lisieux. By the door of her cell, scratched into the wood, she had written, “Jesus is my only love.” That was not written in exaltation but in near despair. She was thus crying out to her Beloved that even when she experienced nothing but absence, emptiness, darkness, she clung to the assurance of being loved and carried in his arms. That is faith at a heroic level – that is trust, clinging to God when everything in our experience would seem to contradict his very existence, or at least his love for us.”
The following was found written on a cellar wall in Cologne (Köln) after World War II,
I believe in the sun even when it is not shining.I believe in love even when I feel it not.I believe in God even when he is silent.
When Solzhenitsyn saw the cross, he knew God had not forsaken him. He knew God was right there beside him in his deepest pit.
And because God is with us in our deepest pit, in our Gospel Jesus encourages us to pray with faith. We are not to be like the man who went outside and stood by a tree and prayed, “Be uprooted and planted in the sea.” The tree didn’t move. The man said, “I knew there was no point in praying, I knew you would not move any way.” His faith was even smaller than a mustard seed, the smallest biblical seed. Sometimes our faith is also smaller than a mustard seed but in the excerpt of our second letter to Timothy, Timothy was reminded,
I remind you to stir into a flame the gift of God that you have through the imposition of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of cowardiceBut rather of power and love and self-control.So do not be ashamed of your testimony to our Lord…
The great sin of the Old Testament was forgetting the exodus during times of crisis. Let us remember that God is with us in our deepest pit.
For God did not give us a spirit of cowardiceBut rather of power and love and self-control.
If you have faith the size of a mustard seed,You would say to this mulberry tree,‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.
I was reminded of that story from the book Battle Fatigue by Joe Brown by Habbakuk in our first reading today praying to God,
How long, O Lord? I cry for helpBut you do not listen!I cry to you “Violence!”But you do not intervene.
Was Habakkuk praying without faith? He said to God, “you do not listen”, “you do not intervene.” How often when a crisis comes we concentrate on the crisis instead of on God. This is the common fault of humanity, the fault of Solzhenitsyn; our faith is strong when everything is going well, but when the crisis hits we pray like Habakkuk but also like Habakkuk we say “you do not listen”, “you do not intervene” and we have questions about God and we wonder if God exists or even if God is gone on holidays. Every time the Hebrews after escaping from Egypt suffered a setback in the desert they complained and said, it was better in Egypt, we should never have left. What a short memory they had, forgetting the miracle of the exodus. In one sense we could say the great sin of the Old Testament is forgetting, the Chosen People forgot what God had done for them and instead only looked at the difficulties around them and then they sinned.
Crises are an opportunity for us to grow, there is more growth in the valleys than in the mountain tops. And we will have many of these opportunities. Someone has said we have a crisis every year and a major crisis every decade. Crises are an opportunity for us to grow in faith. God responded to Habakkuk encouraging faith, God said,
…the just one, because of his faith, shall live.
We have been blessed down through the centuries with wonderful examples of faith even in the midst of despair and darkness. On Friday we celebrated the feast of St Thérèse of Lisieux and this is what Cardinal Basil Hume wrote of her,
“In 1987 I visited St Thérèse’s cell in the Carmel of Lisieux. By the door of her cell, scratched into the wood, she had written, “Jesus is my only love.” That was not written in exaltation but in near despair. She was thus crying out to her Beloved that even when she experienced nothing but absence, emptiness, darkness, she clung to the assurance of being loved and carried in his arms. That is faith at a heroic level – that is trust, clinging to God when everything in our experience would seem to contradict his very existence, or at least his love for us.”
The following was found written on a cellar wall in Cologne (Köln) after World War II,
I believe in the sun even when it is not shining.I believe in love even when I feel it not.I believe in God even when he is silent.
When Solzhenitsyn saw the cross, he knew God had not forsaken him. He knew God was right there beside him in his deepest pit.
And because God is with us in our deepest pit, in our Gospel Jesus encourages us to pray with faith. We are not to be like the man who went outside and stood by a tree and prayed, “Be uprooted and planted in the sea.” The tree didn’t move. The man said, “I knew there was no point in praying, I knew you would not move any way.” His faith was even smaller than a mustard seed, the smallest biblical seed. Sometimes our faith is also smaller than a mustard seed but in the excerpt of our second letter to Timothy, Timothy was reminded,
I remind you to stir into a flame the gift of God that you have through the imposition of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of cowardiceBut rather of power and love and self-control.So do not be ashamed of your testimony to our Lord…
The great sin of the Old Testament was forgetting the exodus during times of crisis. Let us remember that God is with us in our deepest pit.
For God did not give us a spirit of cowardiceBut rather of power and love and self-control.
If you have faith the size of a mustard seed,You would say to this mulberry tree,‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.
pay for it
One day, I woke early in the morning to watch the sunrise.
Ah the beauty of God’s creation is beyond description.
As I watched, I praised God for His beautiful work.
As I sat there, I felt the Lord’s presence with me.
He asked me,
“Do you love me?”
I answered,
“Of course, God! You are my Lord and Savior!”
Then He asked,
“If you were physically handicapped, would you still love me?”
I was perplexed. I looked down upon my arms, legs and the rest of my body and wondered how many things I wouldn’t be able to do, the things that I took for granted.
And I answered, “It would be tough Lord, but I would still loveYou.”
Then the Lord said,
“If you were blind, would you still love my creation?”
How could I love something without being able to see it? Then I thought of all the blind people in the world and how many of them still loved God and His creation.
So I answered, “Its hard to think of it, but I would still love you.”
The Lord then asked me,
“If you were deaf, would you still listen to my word?”
How could I listen to anything being deaf? Then I understood.
Listening to God’s Word is not merely using our ears, but our hearts. I answered,
“It would be tough, but I would still listen to Your word.”
The Lord then asked,
“If you were mute, would you still praise My Name?”
How could I praise without a voice?
Then it occurred to me: God wants us to sing from our very heart and soul. It never matters what we sound like. And praising God is not always with a song, but when we are persecuted, we give God praise with our words of thanks. So I answered,
“Though I could not physically sing, I would still praise Your Name.
And the Lord asked,
“Do you really love Me?”
With courage and a strong conviction, I answered boldly,
“Yes Lord! I love You because You are the one and true God!”
I thought I had answered well, but God asked,
“THEN WHY DO YOU SIN?”
I answered, “Because I am only human. I am not perfect.”
“THEN WHY IN TIMES OF PEACE DO YOU STRAY THE FURTHEST?
WHY ONLY IN TIMES OF TROUBLE DO YOU PRAY THE EARNEST?”
No answers. Only tears.
The Lord continued:
“Why only sing at fellowships and retreats? Why seek Me only in times of worship? Why ask things so selfishly? Why ask things so unfaithfully?”
The tears continued to roll down my cheeks.
“Why are you ashamed of Me? Why are you not spreading the good news? Why in times of persecution, you cry to others when I offer My shoulder to cry on? Why make excuses when I give you opportunities to serve in My Name?”
I tried to answer, but there was no answer to give.
“You are blessed with life. I made you not to throw this gift away. I have blessed you with talents to serve Me, but you continue to turn away. I have revealed My Word to you, but you do not gain in knowledge. I have spoken to you but your ears were closed. I have shown My blessings to you, but your eyes were turned away. I have sent you servants, but you sat idly by as they were pushed away. I have heard your prayers and I have answered them all.”
“DO YOU TRULY LOVE ME ?”
I could not answer. How could I? I was embarrassed beyond belief. I had no excuse. What could I say to this? When the tears had flowed, I said, “ Please forgive me Lord. I am unworthy to be Your child.”
The Lord answered,
“ That is My Grace, My child.”
I asked, “ Then why do you continue to forgive me? Why do You love me so?”
The Lord answered,
“ Because you are My creation. You are my child. I will never abandon you.
When you cry, I will have compassion and cry with you.
When you shout with joy, I will laugh with you.
When you are down, I will encourage you.
When you fall, I will raise you up.
When you are tired, I will carry you.
I will be with you till the end of days, and I will love you forever.”
Never had I cried so hard before. How could I have been so cold? How could I have hurt God as I had done? I asked God,
“How much do You love me?”
The Lord stretched out His arms, and I saw His nail-pierced hands.
I bowed down at the feet of Christ, my Savior.
And for the first time, I truly prayed.
Ah the beauty of God’s creation is beyond description.
As I watched, I praised God for His beautiful work.
As I sat there, I felt the Lord’s presence with me.
He asked me,
“Do you love me?”
I answered,
“Of course, God! You are my Lord and Savior!”
Then He asked,
“If you were physically handicapped, would you still love me?”
I was perplexed. I looked down upon my arms, legs and the rest of my body and wondered how many things I wouldn’t be able to do, the things that I took for granted.
And I answered, “It would be tough Lord, but I would still loveYou.”
Then the Lord said,
“If you were blind, would you still love my creation?”
How could I love something without being able to see it? Then I thought of all the blind people in the world and how many of them still loved God and His creation.
So I answered, “Its hard to think of it, but I would still love you.”
The Lord then asked me,
“If you were deaf, would you still listen to my word?”
How could I listen to anything being deaf? Then I understood.
Listening to God’s Word is not merely using our ears, but our hearts. I answered,
“It would be tough, but I would still listen to Your word.”
The Lord then asked,
“If you were mute, would you still praise My Name?”
How could I praise without a voice?
Then it occurred to me: God wants us to sing from our very heart and soul. It never matters what we sound like. And praising God is not always with a song, but when we are persecuted, we give God praise with our words of thanks. So I answered,
“Though I could not physically sing, I would still praise Your Name.
And the Lord asked,
“Do you really love Me?”
With courage and a strong conviction, I answered boldly,
“Yes Lord! I love You because You are the one and true God!”
I thought I had answered well, but God asked,
“THEN WHY DO YOU SIN?”
I answered, “Because I am only human. I am not perfect.”
“THEN WHY IN TIMES OF PEACE DO YOU STRAY THE FURTHEST?
WHY ONLY IN TIMES OF TROUBLE DO YOU PRAY THE EARNEST?”
No answers. Only tears.
The Lord continued:
“Why only sing at fellowships and retreats? Why seek Me only in times of worship? Why ask things so selfishly? Why ask things so unfaithfully?”
The tears continued to roll down my cheeks.
“Why are you ashamed of Me? Why are you not spreading the good news? Why in times of persecution, you cry to others when I offer My shoulder to cry on? Why make excuses when I give you opportunities to serve in My Name?”
I tried to answer, but there was no answer to give.
“You are blessed with life. I made you not to throw this gift away. I have blessed you with talents to serve Me, but you continue to turn away. I have revealed My Word to you, but you do not gain in knowledge. I have spoken to you but your ears were closed. I have shown My blessings to you, but your eyes were turned away. I have sent you servants, but you sat idly by as they were pushed away. I have heard your prayers and I have answered them all.”
“DO YOU TRULY LOVE ME ?”
I could not answer. How could I? I was embarrassed beyond belief. I had no excuse. What could I say to this? When the tears had flowed, I said, “ Please forgive me Lord. I am unworthy to be Your child.”
The Lord answered,
“ That is My Grace, My child.”
I asked, “ Then why do you continue to forgive me? Why do You love me so?”
The Lord answered,
“ Because you are My creation. You are my child. I will never abandon you.
When you cry, I will have compassion and cry with you.
When you shout with joy, I will laugh with you.
When you are down, I will encourage you.
When you fall, I will raise you up.
When you are tired, I will carry you.
I will be with you till the end of days, and I will love you forever.”
Never had I cried so hard before. How could I have been so cold? How could I have hurt God as I had done? I asked God,
“How much do You love me?”
The Lord stretched out His arms, and I saw His nail-pierced hands.
I bowed down at the feet of Christ, my Savior.
And for the first time, I truly prayed.
god with us
I have a new coat, it was designed by God and given to me by Jesus Christ. All I had to do to receive this coat was to believe in God's only Son.
I find it fits me perfectly unless I allow myself to become puffed up with foolish pride, then it's too tight. If I walk with my head high, trying to be above those about, then it is too short. But if I walk humbly as I should before God, it fits me just right.
How is the coat made?
The shoulders are wide and roomy so that I can help my fellow man carry his burdens.
The collar is made of God's mercy, yes, the mercy of God's promises. First that I may become his child and second, that I will one day dwell with Him in that home prepared for His saints.
The cuffs are narrow, so that there is no room to tuck away grievance and hard feelings toward my neighbors.
The pockets are oversized, One is for the love of God; the other is to hold my love for my fellowman and all humanity.
There are three buttons on my coat, which stands for faith, hope and charity. I check on them often so that none becomes loose or lost.
The lining is made of God's forgiveness, which I need so often that I want it next to me at all times.
The belt is made of God's love that encircles me everyday.
The material is thick enough to protect me when the storms of life come my way, but not too thick that I will not be able to feel the presence of the Holy Spirit who guides me.
There are many threads in my new coat, but not one thread of doubt that God's promises are true,
Do you wonder about the color of my coat? Why, it's the color of Jesus' eyes that must sparkle when a lost soul accepts Him.
I will need my coat all through life. When I travel through the valley of death and when I view the future, I will always wear my new coat.
I find it fits me perfectly unless I allow myself to become puffed up with foolish pride, then it's too tight. If I walk with my head high, trying to be above those about, then it is too short. But if I walk humbly as I should before God, it fits me just right.
How is the coat made?
The shoulders are wide and roomy so that I can help my fellow man carry his burdens.
The collar is made of God's mercy, yes, the mercy of God's promises. First that I may become his child and second, that I will one day dwell with Him in that home prepared for His saints.
The cuffs are narrow, so that there is no room to tuck away grievance and hard feelings toward my neighbors.
The pockets are oversized, One is for the love of God; the other is to hold my love for my fellowman and all humanity.
There are three buttons on my coat, which stands for faith, hope and charity. I check on them often so that none becomes loose or lost.
The lining is made of God's forgiveness, which I need so often that I want it next to me at all times.
The belt is made of God's love that encircles me everyday.
The material is thick enough to protect me when the storms of life come my way, but not too thick that I will not be able to feel the presence of the Holy Spirit who guides me.
There are many threads in my new coat, but not one thread of doubt that God's promises are true,
Do you wonder about the color of my coat? Why, it's the color of Jesus' eyes that must sparkle when a lost soul accepts Him.
I will need my coat all through life. When I travel through the valley of death and when I view the future, I will always wear my new coat.
miracle from jesus
Near Châteauneuf, France, in the early twentieth century, a young man with his cap pulled down covering his nose saw a priest approaching on the opposite side of the street and started to squawk like a crow. The priest was unflustered, crossed the street, and gave the man a franc note. The young man questioned why, and the priest said when babies cry it means they are hungry and told him to buy some bread, it would taste better than eating a priest.
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