God's Glory

 

Introducing a wonderful song sang by Martha and Danny Orlando - Link HERE

God's Glory 

I've gone where the hopeless go, the dead end of a broken road
And I've learned there's a place so low you can't see your way out
Been stuck in a ditch so deep, thought it might be the end of me
But I'm still here and there could only be one way how

My life is a God story
Gotta tell the world what He's done for me
Miracle on miracles that only He could do
I'm proof that we're all only one prayer away from a testimony
There's only One getting all the glory
My whole life is a God story (God story)

From beginning to the end, from who I was to who I am
I can see His fingerprints on every single page
Now the story I love to tell
Is the story of the One who brought me back from hell
From "all wrong" to "it is well", and all I can say

Is my life is a God story
Gotta tell the world what He's done for me
Miracles on miracles that only He could do
I'm proof that we're all only one prayer away from a testimony
There's only One getting all the glory
My whole life is a God story, God story

From death to life, from blind to sight
This is my God story
From lost to found, from then to now
I'll tell you how, God story
Who brought me through from old to new
It's a true God story
Ain't hard to see the change in me
Could only be a God story

My life is a God story
Gotta tell the world what He's done for me
Miracles on miracles that only He could do
I'm proof that we're all only one prayer away from a testimony
There's only One getting all the glory
My whole life is a God story

The only Jesus

 

 Article by Martha Jane Orlando - Link HERE 

Matthew 25:40
"The King will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.'"

Pastor Wallace tells us the story of two death-row prisoners.  One is a black man jailed for killing a white man.  He despises all whites with a passion.  The other is a white man imprisoned for killing a black man.  He harbors a vehement hatred toward black people.

During his trial, the white man miraculously comes into a relationship with Jesus Christ.  He is transformed.  Changed forever.  When he is placed back in prison, he finds that his cell is now right beside that black man who hates whites.

Every evening, a courtesy cart is wheeled through the prison.  Inmates are allowed to choose one item from the cart.  The first evening the white man is there, he selects an apple and hands it promptly to the black man.  The latter accepts it, takes a huge bite, chews it up, and throws the pulp into the white man's cell.

The next night, the white man offers the black man a pack of chewing gum.  The black man puts a piece into his mouth, chews it noisily, then spits it into the white man's cell.

This routine goes on day after day after day.  Until, of course, the morning dawns upon the white man's scheduled execution.  No family comes forward to claim the body.  He is placed in a cheap pine box and buried on the prison grounds.

The only people in attendance at his funeral are the chaplain, two prison trustees, and the black man to whom he had shown kindness.

When the short, yet solemn, service concludes, the chaplain turns to go.  The black inmate taps his shoulder.  When the chaplain turns around, he sees tears streaming down the black man's cheeks as he points to the grave site.

"That was the only Jesus I ever knew."

~~~~~~~~~~~

We run into people from all walks of life as we commute to our jobs, shop for groceries, go to the gym, or engage in any number of public activities.  Any one of these strangers may never have read the Bible nor set foot in a church.  For us as Christians, each encounter with another person is an opportunity to witness to our faith.  Are we being polite?  Courteous?  Kind?  Are we lending a helping hand in time of need?  Are we radiating the light of Christ?  Shining His infinite generosity and goodness toward others?

Think about it . . .

You might be the only Jesus someone ever knows.

Prayer:  We pray, Father, that we can shine the light of Jesus into this dark world through what we say and do, and in the kindness we show to others.  Remind us as we go through our days that we might be the only Jesus someone will ever know.  Amen.

Presentation of Jesus at the Temple

 

 

FATHER JONATHAN E MOORE

RETIRED PRIEST

NOTTINGHAM DIOCESE UK

 

LINK HERE 

 

Sermon about the Presentation of Jesus

at the Temple.

 

Candlemas 

Wonderful Counsellor

 

Article by Barbara Mims - Link HERE

Wonderful Counselor

At Christmastime we hear descriptions of the coming Jesus with words like “Wonderful Counsellor,” “ Mighty God,” “Everlasting Father,” and “Prince of Peace.”  

When I suddenly became a widow, a lot of questions bombarded my thoughts, things I could no longer expect my husband to address. 

How to operate the sprinkler control box?
How to change smoke alarm batteries?
What is the password for …..?
What to do when the car’s tire pressure is low?
Where have I placed such-and-such?

Where did he file that document?

 

For 50 years I was blessed with this man who took care of so many things without my intervention, but suddenly these matters were now my responsibility.

 

One of the first lessons I learned was to be discerning about who to ask for help.  One person usually cannot accurately respond to all of the problems and questions. 

I also had to force myself to be more brave in hunting down what is lost, misplaced, or just a mystery to me. (I learned I am smarter than I thought!!)

But of the most comfort to me has been to realize the absolute practicality of Jesus being the “wonderful counsellor” (Isaiah 9:6).

That thought is re-stated in Colossians 2:3 which says: “[Christ] in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”

Yes, of course, all of our spiritual questions are resolved in Jesus Christ, but He, being God, has all the wisdom and knowledge about everything! 

To my thinking, He can get me the answers I need about the most practical of matters!

For virtually all of my life as a Christ-follower, I have sought the Lord for wisdom, but as a widow that seeking took on a more practical and at times a more urgent, dimension. 

I’ve learned that not all questions need an immediate answer. As a matter of fact, it seems the Lord sees the need for me to WAIT for solutions as being more important than to immediately get the answer itself.

Trust has become magnified to me. Ask for help and then wait, fully convinced that He will respond at the right time with the right solution.

Widowhood has been (and continues to be) God’s instrument to teach me to seek Him, to trust Him, and to wait on His timing. 

He has come through for me on so many things (and never too late). For those matters yet unresolved, my reliance on Him has grown exponentially. 

He is, indeed, the Wonderful Counsellor in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

Be of good cheer

 

The Holy Trinity

 

Article by Victor S E Moubarak - Link HERE

One of the great mysteries of our Faith is the Holy Trinity. No matter how much we may scratch our heads, I doubt we’ll be able to understand it. Not that we are meant to, I suppose. This is because over the years we have treated the Holy Trinity as some sort of puzzle which we are meant to resolve, and once we do so, we gain a prize of some kind.

Let’s see if I can shed some light on this mystery.

For years on end in the Old Testament times people believed in one God. Leaders like Abraham, Moses and David believed in one living God; only one Person.

In those days, and thereafter, there were people who believed in many gods of course. The ancient Egyptians, the Romans, the Greeks, all had many gods.

So if God had revealed Himself to the Jews as three Persons in one, and assuming they understood this, (we don’t understand it ourselves now), then the pagans would have thought that the Jews believed in three gods.

Later on, at the times of the New Testament, the Apostles, who were Jews, believed from childhood that there was only one Person in God. That’s what they had learnt from the writings of the Old Testament prophets and that’s what they experienced in their lives. They saw God’s hand in everything that happened. He was the God of Abraham, Moses and David. The God written about in history. The God up there in Heaven who gave them the moral law, (Commandments), and who created everything.

Then one day they met a Man named Jesus. For three years they lived with Him.

They saw that He spoke with authority and conviction, and all that He said made sense. They watched how He lived and the way He related to people.

He showed compassion for the sick, the destitute and those forgotten by society. He cared for the hungry and the poor and showed kindness for everybody.

When anyone was rude or insulting to Him, He did not answer back in anger.

He lived His life on a high moral plain but showed sympathy and understanding for those who were stained and scarred by sin.

He taught them about His Father who was God and that He was the Son of God. 

 

One day, when He asked them who they thought He was, Simon Peter was quick to answer, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." (Matthew 16: 13-20)

 

Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in Heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of Heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in Heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in Heaven.” Then He ordered His disciples not to tell anyone that He was the Messiah. (Matthew 16:13-20)

Note specifically what Christ said, "this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in Heaven."

This was not Peter, a human, just talking. It was the Holy Spirit, through Peter, Who proclaimed who Jesus was.

At that point, God spoke, through Peter, to declare that Jesus is His Son.

The Disciples saw Jesus perform many miracles when He walked this earth. They saw Him die and then alive again, raised by God His Father. They knew for certain that He had conquered death and the grave. Time and again they saw Him after the Resurrection, they spoke with Him and ate with Him.

It was impossible for them to think or talk about God without thinking and talking about Jesus. They had come to know God their Father through His Son.

When Jesus was taken up to Heaven after the Resurrection the Disciples were distraught. What are they to do now? Their Leader whom they saw and trusted all these years had gone. They were afraid, so they hid in houses secretly, wondering what to do next.

As promised, Jesus sent His Holy Spirit, the Comforter, upon them nine days later.

Their eyes were opened and they believed, and understood, that He was the Third Person of God.

To the early Disciples, the Holy Spirit was real indeed. They had experienced the power of the Holy Spirit. They received Him at Pentecost in tongues of fire and they were able to speak to the crowds that gathered in different languages. Peter explained to the crowd that the Disciples had received God's Holy Spirit.

The Disciples, and early Christians, now knew for certain that the one and only living God they believed in, whom Abraham, Moses, and the prophets had spoken of, had sent His only Son Jesus to earth. Because they had met Jesus. They also knew that Jesus had sent His Holy Spirit upon them, because they had experienced the Holy Spirit.

To them this was all a reality. Something they had seen, experienced and understood. Not some sort of puzzle of three in one yet each one separate from the three. 

Because the Disciples had experienced the Holy Spirit, He became such a force in their lives, giving them strength to spread the Good News that Jesus had taught them, enabling them to live as Jesus had lived.

It was they who handed on to us this mystery that in one God there are three Persons.

Today, many people don’t understand the Holy Spirit. Somehow, over the years the message has been diluted. Miss-understood. Or perhaps deliberately confused to obfuscate the message of Christianity.
 

But the Holy Spirit still can and does descend on people today. And He does transform their lives. If people believe, and if they ask and invite Him earnestly into their soul.

‘And a little child shall lead them’ (Isaiah 11:6)

 

 Sanctuary of Our Lady of Knock

 

Article by Fr Seán Coyle - The author is a member of the Missionary Society of St Columban who spent most of his life as a priest in the Philippines. He blogs at https://bangortobobbio.blogspot.com/

While making a Holy Hour before the noon Mass in Knock parish church last November, I experienced the truth of Isaiah 11:6 unexpectedly from a girl of Indian ancestry dressed in pink, aged between two and three.

Two young women, whom I presumed to be her mother and aunt and from Kerala, were with the child. One of them went to write a petition at a side altar where there were pens and paper. The girl took one of the pens and prodded an older Irish woman with it, with the playful exuberance of a child going through the ‘Terrible Twos’. However, the mother or aunt took the pen off her and the ‘victim’ saw the humour in the situation. Then a young man arrived, clearly the father of the girl, who was still running around, though never out of control.

Instead of distracting me this incident filled me with a deep sense of joyful gratitude for the gift that so many immigrants are to Ireland, especially those with a deep Catholic faith from Kerala, the Philippines, sub-Saharan Africa and eastern Europe. I saw the young adults from India passing on the Catholic faith to their Irish-born daughter and strengthening and renewing the faith of the Irish. I prayed for the many immigrants, especially Syro-Malabar Catholics from Kerala, who practise their Catholic faith with fervour.

The girl reminded me of when I was her age. We lived in Drimnagh, Dublin, at the time. One weekday morning after Christmas 1945 my mother, pregnant with my brother Paddy, took me to Mass. I shouted ‘bah’ at the Infant in the crib and the priest ordered us out of the church. I know of the incident from my mother’s recounting of it. From my own experience I can understand the priest’s ‘getting out of bed on the wrong side’ that morning. Sadly, he didn’t apologise when my father, who hated confrontation of any kind, went to see him.

We left the parish after my brother’s birth six months later and the priest moved to the parish where my mother grew up. When telling the story she always added that the same priest couldn’t have been kinder to her youngest sister, my Auntie Madge, in her last illness early in 1950.

Fast forward to Lent 1991 when I was on a sabbatical in Ireland. Drimnagh parish had asked for a Columban to preach at all the Massed on a weekend in Lent when senior secondary school students were making a 24-hour fast for Trócaiire, the overseas development agency of the Irish bishops. The superior who invited me to do this knew nothing of my connection with Drimnagh. I jumped at the invitation.

I had the best opening line ever for a homily: ‘I was thrown out of this church with my pregnant mother when I was two-and-a-half!’ By the time I’d preached for the fourth or fifth time I felt a vicarious healing on behalf of my mother who died in 1970.

‘And a little child shall lead them’, says Isaiah. A little Catholic girl who can trace the gift of her faith back to St Thomas the Apostle led me on a graced journey that morning in Knock without any awareness whatever that just by being a ‘Terrible Two’ she was proclaiming the Gospel to me as were her parents and aunt by their quiet piety.

+++

The Comfort of Scripture

 

Article by Barbara Mims - Link HERE

Having been raised in a strong Christian home where we prayed before every meal, attended church  services and various meetings as a family throughout the week, and then continued those practices as an adult, I have been strongly influenced by the Bible all of my life.

Just like everyone else, my life had its ups and downs. My beliefs, commitments and determination were tested. Also, like most people, I occasionally stumbled along the way, but I remained devoted to the Lord. Clearly, He was devoted to me.

Then at age 70 I was put to the most severe test of my faith. My husband of 50 years died from a brief illness. None of us in the family saw that coming. 

Suddenly I felt as though I was positioned on the handlebars of a fast-moving bicycle of which I had no control but was careening fast toward an unknown future. 

I am thankful to be able to say the foundation of  Scripture held firm. The reliability of God’s Word was a benevolence to me. In my grief I sought Scripture intensely. 

Since there was no one in my house to please except myself, I used a heavy pen to write out many Bible verses on large sheets of paper. Then I hung them in nearly every room with tape or clothes pins, not caring what it looked like. I just wanted to be able to see God’s Words to me in all the places where my eyes  tended to focus throughout the day:

the window above the kitchen sink

the bathroom mirrors

outside of the shower stall

inside closets

inside and outside of cabinet doors

the laundry room

at the end of a hall

It has been a little over five years since my husband passed into Heaven. I have since remarried and moved into another house. While I no longer have Scripture clipped and taped all over our home, I do have decorative art pieces scattered throughout  the rooms with verses that bless me daily. 

The first thing I read every morning and the last thing I read at night is Scripture. I’ve learned to pray those words, making God’s Words my own as I begin and end every day. 

I have set the Lord

continually before me;

because He is at my right hand,

I will not be shaken.

Psalm 16:8

Have I told you lately?

 

Article by Myra Guca - Link HERE

Have I Told You Lately?

Yes, I'm often inclined to look for prayer sources apart from the traditional. 
 

While I realize (gulp!) that not everyone shares my passion for Rod Stewart .... when I heard his rendition of Van Morrison's ballad, I was struck --  this isn't a love song to a woman; the writer is expressing his love for God!

Have I told you lately that I love you;

Have I told you there's no one above you;

You fill my heart with gladness,

Take away my sadness,

Ease my troubles, that's what you do!

Oh, the morning sun in all its glory

Greets the day with hope and comfort too.

And you fill my life with laughter,

You can make it better

Ease my troubles that's what you do. 

 

 

There's a love that's divine
and it's yours and it's mine -- like the sun.
And at the end of the day, we should give thanks and pray........

Worry

 

Article by Victor S E Moubarak - Link HERE

Did you know that about 90% of the things you worry about do not happen anyway? Which statistically speaking, it means that worry is good for you. You can worry about many things and they won't happen. Isn't that great?

I often worry that with all the windmills, (wind turbines), we have in the world one of these days the whole planet will take off and fly in any direction it wants. But a scientist I know tells me I'm worrying unduly. What do you think?

My medic friend tells me that worrying does a lot of bad things to you both physically internally and mentally. People can become paranoid about it apparently. I asked the librarian if she had a book about paranoia and she said, "It's behind you!" That gave me quite a fright, I tell you.

But let's get back to worrying. What does it mean spiritually?

Simply put, it means you do not trust in God.

Jesus said, "Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me." John 14:1

Worrying means that to you, Jesus is a liar. 

I'll go as far as saying that worrying is a sin.

Never mind what worry does to you medically speaking. Consider for a moment what it does to your eternity!

Did you know that the words "Fear not" or other variations like "Do not be afraid" appear over 300 times in the Bible - at least once for every day of the year.

Makes you think, doesn't it? 

.

DO NOT BE AFRAID

 

Father Francis Maple

website link HERE

Carried Into the Unknown

 

Article and photo by Debby - Link HERE 

Stepping into seasons I’ve never known

The start of a new year always excites me and has me looking forward to a fresh start. Who doesn’t enjoy a new beginning or the next chapter in a good book? This year feels a bit different, though. In March, I’ll turn 72, and honestly, that number surprises me more than any before. I’m not sad or afraid, just telling the truth. Getting older reminds me that while today feels familiar, tomorrow is still uncertain. That is the same for all of us. No matter how healthy or fortunate we are, we can never be sure what a new year will bring.

Sharing these thoughts as we age can help us connect and understand each other and offer support to one another by just being there and acknowledging what we all will go through.  I believe when we keep these thoughts bottled up, and don’t share, that is when anxiety visits us.

I recently shared these thoughts with the women in my Bible study. I told them that this stage of life feels new and unfamiliar. I’ve never been 72 before, nor have I traveled this far into my journey. Naturally, questions come to mind about the health of both my husband and me, and what lies ahead. They aren’t anxious questions, I’m just curious. As I shared, I could tell that many of the ladies share these same feelings and questions, whether we voice them aloud or ponder them quietly.

The next day, during another Bible study, I read aloud from Isaiah 46.4  and it caught my attention:

“Even to your old age and gray hairs I am He, I am He who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.”

Wow! It felt like God was answering that quiet question in my heart. I hadn’t asked Him yet for reassurance but there it was. God was reminding me that getting older doesn’t mean being left alone. The same God who made me still promises to carry me. What stood out to me most was how gentle God’s words are. He didn’t say, “Be strong,” or “Figure it out.” He said, I will sustain you. I will carry you. Growing older might feel new to us, but it isn’t new to Him. Every part of our lives happens under His care.

Stepping into the unknown can feel uneasy, but it’s never unsafe when God is leading us. Even if we can’t see what’s ahead, His promises stay the same. We aren’t expected to carry ourselves into the future. Instead, we’re invited to trust the One who carries us. Maybe that’s the real gift of getting older. It’s not about losing our certainty, but about growing in trust. There’s a quiet confidence that our lives are still held by our Creator from start to finish.

Oh what a Faithful and Reassuring God we have. I know I can rest in the truth that He will sustain me and carry me through these upcoming years of uncertainty. I know I can trust Him with each passing year.

Be Blessed!

“Even to your old age and gray hairs I am He, I am He who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.”  Isaiah 46;4

Heaven

 

Article by Father Francis Maple OFM Cap - Link HERE

HEAVEN

         Who is there?

First of all: God — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — not as an idea, not through symbols or sacraments, but face to face. That is the heart of Heaven: seeing God as He is, and being completely at home in His love.

With Him are: Our Blessed Lady, radiant with the beauty of a soul totally surrendered to God — now also glorified in body and soul. 

The angels, each one blazing with intelligence, joy, and purpose. 

All the saints, known and unknown — apostles, martyrs, quiet faithful souls, children, grandparents, sinners who repented late, priests worn thin by love, people no one ever noticed.

And yes — those we have loved and lost, if they died in God’s friendship. 

Relationships are not erased; they are perfected.  No jealousy. No misunderstandings. No unfinished conversations. Love is finally free to be what it always longed to be.

Its duration?

Heaven is not “a very long time.”  It is eternity — which means outside time.

Nothing good runs out: Joy doesn’t fade.  Love doesn’t cool.  You never think, “Is this all there is?”

Every moment is full, complete -  and yet always fresh. 

What will we do there?

This is where people imagine clouds and harps and worry they’ll be bored stiff in five minutes.  But boredom is a sign of emptiness.  Heaven is fullness.  You will keep learning more about God.

In Heaven we will: See God - and that vision itself is bliss. 

Love perfectly - without fear, pride, or exhaustion. 

Know — not everything, but everything we need, without confusion. 

Praise and worship - not as a duty, but as something that overflows naturally, like singing when you’re happy. 

Rest - not inactivity, but deep peace: nothing to prove, nothing to fix.

Think of the best moments you’ve ever had: Being completely understood.  Loving someone without reserve.  Praying and feeling utterly at peace.  Listening to music that lifts you out of yourself.

Heaven is all of that, without interruption and without loss.

And you - you will still be you.  Your personality will be perfect.  You will be more yourself than you have ever been - healed of every wound, freed from every limitation, with every good desire finally satisfied.

There will be no regrets.  No sin.  No fear of dying again.  No loneliness.  Just life - real life - as God always intended it.

For many of us — especially those who have loved deeply, lost painfully, prayed faithfully, and grown tired in the service of God - Heaven will reveal what we have been slowly learning all along: we are meant for more.

Heaven is not an escape from life.  It is the fulfilment of it.

In Heaven you will walk with God free from carrying crosses, from learning what truly matters, and from discovering that nothing on earth - however beautiful - is ever quite enough.  The heart slowly learns what it was made for.

Heaven is the fulfilment of the promise God has planted deep within us – a promise sealed by the Resurrection of Christ.

In Heaven we believe in the resurrection of the body.  Just as Christ rose, so shall we.  In Heaven we shall have our risen bodies - real, personal, and glorified.  They will no longer be subject to sickness, weakness, ageing, pain, or death.  What was sown in frailty will be raised in glory.  Nothing that truly made us human is lost; it is transformed.  The body, once a place of struggle, becomes a place of praise.

Heaven is home.