The Beauty of the Priesthood

One does not make his own decision to become a priest. God makes the decision from the beginning of time that He is going to call certain individuals to the priesthood. He knows even before these men are formed in the wombs of their mothers, that they are the ones He will beckon and call to be His shepherds on this earth; the ones He will use to touch the lives and hearts of the lost sheep. Sometimes all He need do is whisper gently in the ear of a young man, and that young man turns his life directly to the service of God. Other times, He needs to knock many times on the door of the man's heart before he finally says "Yes, Lord, I hear your call and I am ready to come follow You."

I have heard many vocation stories and they are each unique and wonderful. I have come in contact with many priests in my lifetime and have the joy of becoming personal friends with a few along the way. I loved many for their selfless service to God through their loving service to man. I have marvelled at the gentleness of their words as they pronounced the words of mercy and absolution upon me as I tearfully confessed my sins. I have joyously received the most precious Body and Blood of Christ from their hands as they fed me the Spiritual food for my journey. I have thankfully accepted the oils upon my hands as they anointed me before surgeries. I have received the sacraments of baptism, confirmation and been united with my husband in matrimony under the priest's witness. And how many times did I so happily receive the most precious priestly blessing from one of God's chosen ones?

I look to them with respect and reverence. They are the ones who stand in the person of Christ at the altar every time we attend Mass. They are the holy ones who lead us in liturgy time and time again. They are the ones who open the Scriptures to us. They are the ones who are our Christlike examples on earth. How wonderful are they!! How I love all of the priests. God bless them all. For He chose them all and He loves them all beyond measure.

Jesus, please pour out your love and blessings upon all of your chosen ones. Keep them safe. Keep them holy. Keep them under your holy watch, day and night. You are their Savior. You died for them. You already freed them from the bonds of Satan's evil ways. Love them even more, Jesus. Keep them in Your blessed embrace always. Pour out your sanctifying grace onto them every moment. Amen.

"Feed My Sheep"

After Peter denied Jesus three times he wept bitterly. He felt such intense sorrow at having wounded our Lord in this manner. How could he have turned the other way and out of fear turned on his dearest friend? Yet Jesus, in His great mercy and compassion, knew all along that he, Peter, was destined for great things. He, in spite of his failings, had already been chosen to lead the Church, the earthly institution chosen until the end of time to pass on Christ's very self to the world.

After His resurrection, when He appeared to the apostles, Jesus asked Peter three times, "Peter, do you love me?" to which Peter answered resoundingly, "Yes, Lord, you know I love you." And Jesus said "Feed my sheep." What could this mean? Through Tradition, we have come to know that Jesus meant the priests/bishops/Pope must be the "feeders" of the flock on earth. In other words, we the sheep turn to them for our spiritual food each and every day. Through them, we are fed the words of Holy Scripture; they open the Word (Jesus) to us in the Liturgy of the Word, and they feed us with the Eucharist in the Liturgy of the Eucharist. Once again, I am reminded of the great importance that our priests hold in this world. We must lift them daily in our prayers and hold them always in our hearts. Love the priests. Pray for their holiness and that God will give them wisdom and strength.

The Scriptures and Forgiveness

While pondering the hurt I felt recently, I went to Scriptures once again to remind myself of what my responsibility is when someone hurts me. In the Gospel of Matthew, we read, "Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, 'Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?' Jesus answered, 'I tell you, not seven times, but seventy times seven times.'" Mt 18:21-22

So even if someone tells me to "Go to hell seventy-seven times, I must forgive him every time, because this is what Jesus tells me to do. For if He was able to forgive His murderers while He was hanging from the cross, bleeding and in severe pain, I, too, must find it in my heart to forgive the one who caused me so much emotional pain. I already forgave him and I offer my pain for him on the cross with Jesus for his soul. I want this person to obtain heaven more than I want my own self to obtain heaven out of love for him because my love for him is a gift from God.

Also, how many times each day do we Catholics recite the "Our Father" prayer? If we truly mean what we say, then we must forgive, because we say to God the Father, "Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us." Therefore, we are telling God that He should forgive us in the same way that we forgive those that have hurt us. So if we cannot find it in our hearts to forgive others for whatever they do to us, then we cannot expect God to extend His divine mercy to us when we come to our judgement at the end of our lives. It seems so simple, yet this is something that many people struggle with on earth. It is very difficult to forgive someone who has wronged us, particularly when we feel justified for holding a grudge, or when we feel that we are "right" and the other person is "wrong." The prayer doesn't say, "as we forgive those who trespass against us that we know were wrong." It merely says that God will be merciful as we were merciful. His forgiveness will be dealt to us in the same way we are merciful to those who "sinned" against us.

Wow. The Christian walk is definitely not an easy walk, is it? Father, please help me always to show mercy to those who have wronged me, whether or not they were justified. Help me to always forgive. I desire to be one with You. I desire to bear the name of Your son and call myself a Christian, so help me to be worthy of this name. Help me to emulate Your son in all that I do and say. I want to be more like Jesus every day. Please remove anything from me that gets in the way. Amen.

A Prayer to My Love

Sweetest Jesus, You know me intimately; not because I choose day in and day out to give myself entirely to You, but because You chose me first. Yes, as unworthy as I may seem at times, You did choose me long before I was even conceived in my mother's womb to be Your beloved. You willed me into being. Oh, how sweet is the love song that we pass back and forth between us. At times I am so overwhelmed with Your heavenly presence that I am brought to tears. Other times I just gaze on Your presence in the Blessed Sacrament and smile at Your simplicity and beauty.

Surely You have given me a real taste of what heaven will be when one day I will be surrounded with Your immense love and mercy and my "forever" will be spent bowing down before You, worshiping and proclaiming Your holiness - joining in the perpetual adoration while all participate in the ongoing heavenly liturgy. How can I wait, Jesus? How can I live without gazing on You until that time when my soul should be called to eternal bliss?

Give me the patience to wait, Jesus, for Your glorious call, when You will stretch out Your hand and grasp mine and say, "Come, child, your days of sacrifice are over. Your earthly sojourn is finished. Come now, to the place I have prepared for you."

Jesus, prepare me for this day. Make me a strong disciple and a warrior for Your cause. Always turn my eyes to You and never may I gaze upon myself in pride. It is You I yearn for. You are my Savior, my King and my Only True Source of Joy. I love You, Jesus, with all my being. Amen.

Once Again, The Suffering Becomes Meaningful

The terrible suffering I have endured recently because of the cruelty of the person who spoke so harshly to me has been with me daily since this person said those mean things to me. I have suffered immensely. I have lost sleep, shed many tears, and been very down at times. The human being has a great need for acceptance and love. When one is rejected and spoken harshly to, especially damned to hell by another person who was formerly a friend, it hurts a lot. The worst part is that the other person in this case does not care that he/she hurt me, nor does he/she feel that he/she wronged me by saying this. He/she feels justified and is probably feeling pretty good about himself at this time, rejoicing that he/she finally got rid of me from his/her life. That is the sad thing about the sin of pride. It makes the person feel righteous, rather than convicting the person.

While praying about it the other day, I once again recalled that for some years now, I have been asking God to let me suffer for the souls of priests. I know how Satan is attacking priests so much these days and how the Church is being attacked and thrust into the news all over the world. Satan loves this. So if I can help in a small way to atone for the sins of priests and help them regain heaven, I will do it. Suddenly, my painful emotions had a reason and I began to place them up on the cross with Jesus. I began to offer a prayer at the consecration of every single Mass I attended for the soul of a particular priest I know who I know is having difficulties. This helped ease the pain a little and it gave me a purpose for my suffering. God works in very sly ways, doesn't He?

The Word of God Brings Comfort to Me

I went to pray before the Blessed Sacrament and asked Jesus to comfort me in my sorrow after the person spoke those harsh words to me and told me to "go to hell." God led me to the following passage in scripture. It brought me the comfort that I needed at the time. God always reveals Himself to us in scripture.

"You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth and summonded from its far-off places, You whom I have and will not cast off - Fear not, I am with you;
I will strengthen you, and help you, and uphold you with my right hand of justice.

Yes, all shall be put to shame and disgrace who vent their anger against you; Those shall perish and come to nought who offer resistance. You shall seek out, but shall not find, those who strive against you; They shall be as nothing at all who do battle with you.

For I am the Lord, your God, who grasp your right hand; It is I who say to you, "Fear not, I will help you. Fear not, O worm Jacob, O maggot Israel; I will help you, says the Lord; your redeemer is the Holy One of Israel. I will make of you a threshing sledge, sharp, new, and double-edged, To thresh the mountains and crush them, to make the hills like chaff. When you winnow them, the wind shall carry them off and the storm shall scatter them. But you shall rejoice in the Lord, and glory in the Holy One of Israel.

The afflicted and the needy seek water in vain, their tongues are parched with thirst. I, the Lord, will answer them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them." Is 41:9-17

"Go to Hell"

What does it mean when a person says this to another person? The other day someone said this in anger to me. No one had ever said this to me before in my lifetime. It made me cry for more than one day. I felt physically sick and could not sleep for two nights. I could not eat. I cried out to my God for comfort. I cried out, "Why Jesus? Why would someone say this to me? What does this mean?"

To wish hell on someone means that someone desires that the person will never see the face of God; one wishes that the other person will be in eternal punishment with Satan himself; perpetually denied God's promise of eternal life. It is the most cruel thing one can wish for another person. However, when I looked at the crucifix, I recalled that Jesus, too, suffered for the sins of his friends. And He asked God to forgive them as He hung on the cross. So I forgave him in my heart and asked Jesus to accept my pain for the soul of this person.

Update on Karim

I recently visited Lebanon to see in person how Karim is doing. I was pleasantly surprised to see that physically his disease is receding slowly. His feet were still about the same, although he walks all the time on them, painfully, but, still walking. He seemed upbeat, in spite of not attending school to date. His tutor still sees him once a week, although she has secured a full-time job in Beirut and is not able to see him as often as she did previously. She is a lovely young woman who is truly interested in Karim's progress. She is currently looking into getting him into a school there. If this happens, I will have to do some more fundraising.

Lebanon was again beautiful and the people very welcoming and hospitable. I reacquainted myself with my old friends and made some new friends. The Maronite people made me part of their family. I felt comfortable and at home once again. I stayed with a young family with a two-year-old girl who plays regularly with Karim, and a three-month-old baby boy. They were very good to me. I thank them for their hospitality and kindness.

I found that still no one is bringing Karim to the Mass. The family mentioned again that they want visitors from the parish for their son and they want him to go to the Mass with someone from the parish, but no one comes to bring him. This broke my heart to know that Karim has been denied the Mass and holy communion since earlier this year when the man who was bringing him moved to another country. I cried because of this terrible truth.

While I was in Lebanon, my friend and I brought Karim to see a priest in Beirut. This priest said Mass for us and heard Karim's confession. No priest had heard his confession since he had been in America a year before. I asked this priest to give him the sacrament of the anointing of the sick, which he also did very lovingly. So because of the goodness of one priest, Karim received three sacraments all in one day. Please pray for this priest. When I thanked this priest, he replied, "No need to thank me. I am a priest. This is what I do for God. I love being a priest."

Please pray every day for all our priests. They are under attack by Satan all the time. I offer my sufferings for priests, especially those that are under attack. We can offer our sufferings right on the cross with Jesus for the souls of priests. Sometimes they do not realize that they are under attack. This is when Satan wins.