A Messenger Of Love!

A Messenger of Love

“Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah!” Sometimes the words we fill the air with are funny, charming or plain old nonsense. Other statements may be vulgar, lack respect, and not worth repeating. We may speak before we think and be quick to judge addressing others crudely, offensively or roughly. When we compliment another we take time and with care arrange a flattering sequence of words that are designed to praise and be well received. The emphasis we place on certain utterances can smart, sting, thrill, please or satisfy. Our tonality can relay feelings such as delight, contentment, retaliation or reservation. Words equal communication and ultimately they send a message.

Jesus, a messenger of God, came to communicate the goodness, love and mercy of His Father. He came and demonstrated acts of kindness, forgiveness, and peace. He left us with models of words to use leaving no room for misinterpretation.

Just as Jesus did, He asks us to teach, use our gifts, and be selfless for the sake of others. He also told us that we were not created equal and that each person possesses a different allotment of faith and talents given by God, thereby alleviating the need to compare ourselves to one another.

Jesus offered and left us with countless eye opening examples and revelations to overcome evil. Jesus came to make clear the way for us to enjoy now and for eternity what God created.

God, our creator, looks at us everyday and claims us as family, His special children. God wants only the best for us and desires that no harm touch us. He wants to fill our hearts with joy and delight and has an eternal place set for us. He - loves – us!

God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to give us the ultimate example of a holy person. We have a divine foundation on which to stand. However, God does provide a very important provision to His love. He warns if we deny His Son then He will deny us on the day of reckoning.

It’s time we decide what kind of child, follower and ambassador we will be. Will we honor the Father, His Son, and the Holy Spirit? Will we accept and acknowledge His daily graces, deny ourselves and bear our crosses willingly? Will we share in His hope for our future and cherish the blessing of the gift of our lives? Will we from this moment on knowingly please or disappoint Him? Will we bear good fruit or are we willing to be cut down and thrown into the fire? Are we salt good for seasoning or are we no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot? Does our light shine before others or do we covet a dark place never to enjoy the light of day or take our distinctive place with our heavenly Father?

What words go forth from our mouths? Will they return to us void with wickedness or as an imitation of God’s love? In the end, what is it we are willing to risk? With eyes off ourselves, who are we willing to help?

Like a boomerang our words will rebound back unto us. What we give is ultimately what we will receive. How we judge is how we will be judged by our Heavenly Father. Will it be our “Father’s will” that we will cling to? Or will we choose “our own way” that will destroy us? The choice is now and has always been ours.

Take notice to what these words say about us, “My word will do whatever I will.”

Wheh! Where did that come from? I know I didn’t think that up all by myself. That has God’s hand written all over it! Wow, the Lord is talking to me! I’ve got work to do, how about you?

The Lord knows we are not perfect! He knows we are not capable of never again making a mistake. However, we should not go through life using that as an excuse or crutch. Perfection is a great challenge and to ASPIRE to that is POSSIBLE for all.

We all have faults but do we really need to point them out to each other? Does God everyday find ways to point our faults out to us? Agh, no! We do a fine job of that all by ourselves. What can we do everyday to remind and set off that trigger to engage that positive thought process? What will encourage us to aspire to be perfect or at the very least better than we were yesterday?

Pray, listen, speak and live by God’s words. “Give us this day our daily bread,” are poignant words that are a part of The Lord’s Prayer that we recite often, hopefully every day, and maybe several times a day! Our daily bread in more than one sense is a wonderful dose of Jesus.
Jesus asks us to eat this bread and drink this cup in memory of Him. When we partake in receiving His body and blood it is our reminder of Jesus’ sacrifice for us and that He opened the door to our salvation, our eternity.

For those of us who do not YET attend mass weekly, or more often, we can enrich our relationship with God through prayer. Prayer costs nothing, but it requires a sacrifice of our time.

We must take time from our day and devote it to prayer. Praying to God through His Son Jesus Christ will give us strength and guidance to keep us on the right path toward God’s goodness. We can grow closer to God using prayers passed down through generations or create petitions that come from our own hearts anytime of the day and at any place.

We can use our conversations with each other or about one another to make true disciples of ourselves. Through positive interaction with each other we can use the petition offered to our Father, “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us” as a valid desire, practice and reality.

“Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil,” is our appeal and opportunity to honor God, through our imitation of Jesus which automatically turns us away from sinful thoughts, desires and actions that are a part of this world.

We can choose to celebrate each others lives and treat each other with decency, kindness, and mercy rather than to put down, demean and disgrace.

Although many of us are parents, elders and teachers we can credit ourselves with experience and knowledge. However, this designation does not give us permission to treat others badly or with a lack of respect when attempting to improve, mend or rectify a situation.

Every new day provides opportunities and challenges to demonstrate patience, tolerance, persistence and endurance. Every act gives us room to emulate, imitate and duplicate good virtue, morality, and honesty. Every thought grants us a ray of hope for harmony and an instance where our ideas, notions, morals, values and beliefs should be a helpful precursor in forming our constructive actions. We are heirs of many talents and have an assignment from God to exercise and share our gifts of being God pleasers, fair mediators, compassionate pacifiers, intelligent educators, and noteworthy praisers!

Let us choose our words wisely. There are multitudes of proactive ways to communicate even the most delicate of information. It does not matter whether the situation calls for correction, celebration, or sympathy. Respect and love should always be at the root of our intentions.

God gave us a heart designed to love and just as important it is more than capable of imparting compassion on another. God gave us an able conscience to know the difference between right and wrong. And finally He gave us an incredible intricate brain to connect the mind, body and desires of the soul to communicate His messages of love.

Today, you and I are now “willing messengers of love.” Our reward has always been inside where our spirit dwells. Now we see for our eyes have been opened. Our reward will know no beginning or end, for God’s word is already written on our souls and sprinkled generously on our lives. Our gifts will be revealed in our actions and heard and confirmed by our words. We are messengers of love!

Though we may falter, we will forgive and rise above all that tries to take us down. We are united in our message, “God is love.” We are His creations. Therefore we are love, and love we will give!


Inspired by:
Isaiah 55:10-11

A reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah

“Thus says the Lord: Just as from the heavens the rain and snow come down and do not return there till they have watered the earth, making it fertile and fruitful, bringing seed to the one who sows and bread to the one who eats, so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; It shall not return to me void, but shall do my will, achieving the end for which I sent it.”

You Can Bear Your Cross Knowing Jesus Lives in Your Heart

You Can Bear Your Cross Knowing Jesus Lives In Your Heart

Throughout our lives we all bear crosses of many sizes. Naively, we refuse to believe that these crosses are brought on by ourselves and/or our own family and friends. We rarely find fault when we look in the mirror; it is easier to place blame on the actions of others or even better on our government or the whole world for that matter. When our crosses seem too much to bear our uncultivated faith tries to fight and we may be guilty of transferring our anger and blame onto a God that we shout out at and cry, “How could you let this happen to me? I don’t deserve this!” We feel alone and perhaps abandoned when there is no one on earth who understands what we are going through. At this devastating point in our lives, when our emotions are taxed, our abilities hindered, our crosses are extreme, harsh, violent, or stronger than us, who do we turn to when no one else understands?

It’s sad and frankly pathetic that as a last resort we turn to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Our society, that is you and me, may lack closeness to Jesus and think that we should be looking to each other to save us from ourselves rather than from a merciful and loving Son of God. We exhaust all measures and suffer many sleepless nights and worrisome days trying to figure out how to fit into the evil world rather than being a part of a movement to move away from it.
Some crosses are small and insignificant annoyances that we would not consider categorizing them as burdensome and as such we view them as manageable, familiar and easily within our capabilities; not finding it necessary to seek the help of another much less Jesus in the most bearable of times. Some crosses like death or disease are so heavy or gravely burdensome that we have been known to beg God to take them from us and we would promise Him anything if He would just take it away. Then there are all the other crosses that fall between trivial and paramount and we teeter between tears, discontentment and letdowns as we attempt to micro-manage them without a hope or a prayer. It is easier to complain and feed off of pity or to say that we are carrying unmerited encumbrances. It’s simpler to seek compassion from others, “oh poor thing, this should never have happened to you.” We naively suffer from feelings of abandonment by our immediate relationships and often the world disappoints us from anything from a nibble of a nuisance to a mass of a catastrophe.

We seek assurance from the support of someone else who is bearing a similar cross. For example, a friend who knows infidelity or a sibling who knows about alcoholism may bring comfort to a situation. The reality is that we must not lean on the expertise of others but rather on Jesus. We are all sinners, we all possess faults, and most are not remotely close to sainthood. However, Jesus, through His crucifixion, turned the darkest and gloomiest of days into the light that we now call hope. He knows what its like to be beaten, rejected, sneered at and ridiculed. He is no stranger to despair and aguish. He knows how you feel, He understands you better than any human being. He suffered a multitude of hopeless feelings, disappointments by people in masses, and still for the love of us He endured great pain and suffering and showed us the triumph possible when your faith is great and unwavering. It is through Him that we will learn to tolerate, forgive, and bear our own daily sufferings. It is through Jesus that we can appreciate and see the blessings, big and small, that are daily gifts to us.

His dying for us tells us that we are not alone in this temporary place and that through His death we are promised a glorious eternal life. Let’s wake up from our slumber! Begin now during these 40 days of Lent to grow closer to Christ. Turn away from foolishly spending time trying to fit into to groups, clicks and an out of control culture with cars, homes, fashion, hairdos and the latest electronics. Pour your energy and valuable time into a relationship that will bring you joy, comfort, and peace and become active in seeking the world that Jesus came to proclaim as ours. Heaven is our world and eternity belongs to us.

Today, turn away from yourself and the evil of this world and take up your cross daily to follow Jesus. He does not promise to remove all pain and suffering, but He will lighten your burdens when you walk with Him. He promises to be with you when your day is wonderful or in a shambles.

Beam with triumph because Jesus has got your back when turmoil hits. Smile with gratitude and assurance when you see His hand touch your life. Grin from ear to ear when you sprinkle the world with love because you’ll know then that Jesus lives in your heart.

Ash Wednesday

Today is Ash Wednesday. In church ministers place ashes on our foreheads and say "turn away from sin and be true to the gospel." Use these forty days to learn about the gospel. Read your bible and live it! Abstain from meat today and all Fridays during lent in anticipation of a joyful Easter!

Lenten Prayer

Lenten Prayer

Lord, you have given me the gift of 40 days of lent,
And you invite me, a sinner, to grow closer to you.

The ashes on my forehead make me aware of who I am,
and my desire to turn away from sin.

I shall undertake the practice of prayer and repentance,
And participate in the desirable act of almsgiving.

Help me not to boast when I practice good deeds,
And to live with a generous and forgiving heart.

I will break from the noise and seek quiet moments,
Where I can praise you and turn away from myself.

I pray for attentive ears when I read your word
So that I may grow in my faith and spirit.

I will fast from judging, complaining and gossiping,
And feast on gratitude, compassion and hope.

Lord, make me the recipient of your many graces,
As I respond to my need of transformation.

May the changes I make be worthy sacrifices
To walk in line and unite me with Christ.
Amen.