The one day that we wait for never seems to come.
When we know what’s right, we just keep putting it
off, we risk missing God’s best. I know God takes care of us, but I
also know that God expects us to do our part. When people do us wrong, God expects us to let the
offenses go.
Stop putting off spending time with the people that you
love. So often, we take people for granted. There will never be a perfect
time to do what God has put in our heart. Don’t miss opportunities to
be good to people. Don’t make an excuse for not doing what you know God
is telling you to do.
I’ve learned that when a person comes to mind, I need to
respond as soon as possible. Don’t ever miss out on being a blessing. Beginning today
is when we need to make positive changes in our lives.
Don’t make excuses and don’t look for a more convenient
time.
out of the overflow of the heart, the mouths
speaks Luke 6:45
Words
to me they matter. They have the power to destroy and harm or on the
other hand, words can encourage, they can heal.
Words
have great power to influence many—for the good and for the bad. One
un-thoughtful comment can do as much damage in a person’s life as the
tiny spark that sparks a huge forest fire. With our words we can
destroy a reputation that has taken a lifetime to build.
This
baby I know used to ask me a lot of questions and understandably so
since he was just 3-31/2 years old. As far as possible I used to
encourage his questions, and give him the correct answers if possible. He
could walk into dark rooms without light and not be terrified by it. He
is my youngest-my baby brother but he used to tell a lot of lies at the
time. I did not know that my words would hurt him. I told him you know
if you continue to tell lies your nose will grow as big as Pinocchio’s.
He asked me has my nose grown. I said yes, a little bit. After that, I
did not see him for about 10 minutes and I wondered why. Like I said,
he asked too many questions. I got up and went to look out for him, saw
him looking at the mirror and crying bitterly. I looked at him and
asked what is wrong? He said my nose is grown long. I told, you got the
cutest nose, I am sorry I lied. I carried his cute little self in my
arms and I learned that we need to take care with the words we speak.
If a baby can get hurt and cry bitterly imagine the impact of our words
on adults. Words must be used with the wisdom of God.
Think
about it for a minute. An angry or unforgiving or bitter spirit is
expressed by the tongue through angry or unforgiving or bitter
words. Best example I can mention, is of women in train
compartments, they can be so abusive for little things. They lose their
tempers very quickly and then keep fighting till the other person gets
down. Never once do they think that the journey on the train is of just
15-20 minutes, after which most probably they may never meet each
other. It is sad that people never realize that life is a journey and
we sometimes end up fighting over petty things. Arrogance is usually
seen in the words that a person utters. Selfishness, greed, envy,
and revenge are all communicated through the tongue.
There
is no worse poison than gossip. We need to pray to The Spirit
of God, to guide us with our words and in our actions towards others
and ourselves.
As
Christians we are called to speak the truth. TRUTH in the eyes of God –
is of the highest order. God is the TRUTH. If we are to represent
Him then our words should only be the TRUTH, so help me God.
We
should always try to use words that bring calm to a person or a
situation, not words that escalate issues. Proverbs 15: “A gentle
answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.”
God has given us a free will. It
requires us to believe and make a choice to have hope. Do
I live a life of defeat? Do I rise above my circumstances and look to
God to restore?
We do not know what to hope for. God's Word sheds light
unto the great plan that He has for our lives. In a single moment, God
can make all things new for you and me. It´s what we call hope. Hope
carries us through as we wait for our completing moment.
Ephesians 1:19-20 says: "I pray that you will
understand the incredible greatness of God´s power for us who believe
him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the
dead…" The Bible says that God gives the same power that raised
Jesus from the dead to those who believe Him.
Believe in God by faith and persevere in hope! When faced
with tough times, when we are filled with doubt, God´s miracle for us
is put on hold until we begin to walk again in obedience and put our
complete trust in Him.
We remember Abraham Lincoln where he envisioned a nation
under God. Winston Churchill captured the hearts of Britain and the
world when he boldly declared, as bombs fell on London, "This will
be our finest hour."
When times are tough, it is easy to lose hope. It is
easy to doubt and let fear in. But look at the history of America. It
is the most powerful country in the Universe. Things are not so easy
now. But let us look at the words again? Abraham Lincoln envisioned a
nation under God. He was the
only President I know who kept his Bible with him at all times. He is my
favourite President. Read the words below by Winston Churchill. You can
be a great leader with encouraging words. Choose your words wisely.
“Never give in--never, never, never, never, in nothing
great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of
honor and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the
apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.”
“Never, never, never give up.” - Winston Churchill
“Success is the ability to go from one
failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.” - Winston Churchill
America has its emergency number 911 – the number in the
Bible – Psalm 91:1 states, He
who dwells in the shelter of the Most High, who abides in the shadow of
the Almighty.
On
their currency – they had “In God we trust”.
They
had placed God above everything, but things are changing. What am I
saying – when I place God above everything and I mean everything, then
there will be nothing that I should fear.
The
most powerful person, God watches over me. If I fear, then I do not
know God. If I say, He is my God, I take refuge in Him, then how can I
fear! I must not.
Death
is nothing but a closing of eyes and the breath in the body that
ceases. What is life, but a gift from God it is a chance, given by God
– an encounter to know Him, to Love Him and serve Him and to be happy
with Him in the world to come? Death is the beginning of a new life. I
must therefore learn to deny myself, consider myself as nothing. Only
when I do that can I begin to understand the greatness of this life and
the world to come. Without God I am nothing, I need to ask for His
grace.
If it's raining here, the sun is
always shining somewhere else. God always wants us to come to Him in
the day of trouble. And when we call upon Him, He will show us great
and mighty things, and He will surely rescue us. Amen.
I Believe…
· The Bible is
inspired by God and the authority on which we base our faith.
· In one God
who exists in three distinct persons: The Father, The Son and The Holy
Spirit.
· I believe
that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who came to this earth as the Savior of
the world. Jesus died on the cross and shed His blood for our sins. We
believe that salvation is found by placing our faith in what Jesus did
for us on the cross. We believe Jesus rose from the dead and is coming
again.
· Baptism - is
a cleansing power of the original sin, we become freed from the power
of darkness. Through
the waters of Baptism the person enters into the life of God - Father,
Son and the Holy-Spirit. He or she is dedicated to God and all that is
good.
· Communion (the
Body & Blood of Christ) as an act of remembering what the Lord
Jesus did for us on the Cross.
·
The will of
God.
· We are over-comers
and more than conquerors in the mighty name of JESUS.
This
is my one of my favourite prayers, and something that Fr. Joe stated in
his homily. I do not remember the day.
8th
December, 2016 – I was very hurt that day, and Fr. Joe had given a
beautiful homily, what he said, healed the hurt. I thank God for Fr.
Joe. I always will.
Make
me a channel of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me bring your love;
where there is injury, your pardon, Lord;
and where there's doubt, true faith in you.
Chorus:
O Master, grant that I may never seek
so much to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love with all my soul.
Make
me a channel of your peace.
Where there's despair in life, let me bring hope;
where there is darkness, let me bring your light;
and where there's sadness, ever joy.
Make
me a channel of your peace.
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
in giving to all people, we receive,
and in dying that we're born to eternal life.
"It is in dying that
we are born to eternal life"
I feel two different and very real meanings in this statement. One is
that when we die to self, or become less selfish by focusing on God and
others we awaken to a spiritual life that we miss if we are focused on
our own needs and wants. The other meaning is when this life is over
and we have died we awaken to the eternal life.
I love this hymn (prayer).
When I recite it I, I may not be able to touch Heaven and come back,
but I find a simplicity that is unparalleled. I love simple things. Every
time that I pray, I feel Peace.
Ask God with thanks and don't worry.
Trust
in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will direct your paths. Proverbs
3:5-6
Words
of Christ, “Learn of me for I am meek and humble of heart.” It took St.
Francis de Sales 20 years to conquer his quick temper. He tells us: “The
person who possesses Christian meekness is affectionate and tender
towards everyone: he is disposed to forgive and excuse the frailties of
others; the goodness of his heart appears in a sweet affability that
influences his words and actions, presents every object to his view in
the most charitable and pleasing light.”
Change is a concept
that causes all kinds of emotional reactions within us. The only thing
that is consistent other than the Triune God, is change.
The closer we are to Jesus, the stronger
we’re going to be. If we’ll just draw near to Christ, He will draw near
to us! In the Old Testament, the presence of the Lord was associated with the
ark. And so, wherever the Israelites travelled, they took the ark along
with them.
The devil greatly fears the Lord’s presence in our lives. This is why Satan will do everything in his power to rob us of the
presence of God. This is why he lets doubt and fear creep in and then
he uses it to his advantage. He’ll use anything he can, to keep us away
from spending time alone with Jesus. He knows our time with Christ
makes us victorious over the fears and anxieties of this world!
The Word of God tells us we can pray without ceasing. I have come to
believe that my most important prayers are those quiet whispers of
thanksgiving that I offer to Him all through the day. This keeps me in
the awareness of His presence.
Instead of grumbling all day long, wear the attitude of
gratitude.
“And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the
Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night,
and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided” Exodus 14:21.
God wanted for His people to remember the Egyptians chasing them and
how God put up supernatural walls to protect them. God wanted His
people to have a faith that declared, He who began this miracle for us
will finish it. All the instances were for the Israelites to remember
that God who made a promise to them would not let them be in bondage
anymore.
We have to remember our struggles and know that there is
a reason for each one. At the time, we will not know why, but there has
to be a belief, a belief - that God is watching and everything has a
purpose under Heaven. We will get to the promised land, and when we
look back and remember - through each detail we will begin to see the Hand of
God in every struggle that we passed throuhg and then we will understand how
really naive we were to fear. We may dwindle in our faith and our
promises but not God. God is faithful!
God desires only to do good to us. We must be determined
to no longer live in fear. We must live a life of Faith. The Israelites
were to face a journey through the wilderness. They would endure
suffering. God wanted a people who aren’t afraid of death, because that
would mean that they trusted God in all things.
We know that God parted the Red Sea and the Israelites
arrived on the other side, yet, three days later, these same people
murmured bitterly against God, at Marah.
We have to trust God in the storm. We have to ask His
grace and courage. We need to walk with that determination, which means
not look back at what we leave behind. We have to walk on. Many a times
there may not be a bridge or it could be a mountain or hill that you
could be standing by and no way through, up or under. What do you do? Do you
give up? God never gives up. That is exactly what God expects out of
each one of us. To not give up means we trust in Him.
Walk with a determination. Have an unshakable faith in
the Almighty God. To believe means to not fear even though everything
looks fearful. Fear clouds the mind from seeing the impossible God can
do. Trust in God and not the circumstances no matter what it looks like
or who tells you what. Believe me in this walk of life many will tell
you to look the other way. Walk in His will, not yours or mine or
anybody else’s and you will notice that God will make a way. He always does.
Don’t sing the hymn because the words are written there but believe
each word to be true. (GOD WILL MAKE A WAY) God is faithful!
To believe also means that we no longer are afraid to
die. If God has promised, He will deliver. Death is no obstacle to the
one who believes. God is not a liar.
The economy may collapse. I may be facing a dark, stormy
night. But I know beyond a shadow of doubt that God is faithful. No
matter what comes, I will rest in His love for me.
Yeah though I walk through the valley of the shadow of
death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me. Psalm 23
· At some point in our lives we all have tried to please people so
they won't reject us. If you do what they want you to do, they accept
you; but if you don't, they reject you. God's love
is not based on our performance but is based only on God. He
loves us. He knows we are weak we need to admit that and ask for His
help anyway.
·
2 Chronicles 16:9 says ...the
eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to [show]
himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him…
God looks for a person whose heart is
perfect toward Him. 1 Corinthians 1:27-29 says that God purposely chooses the
weak and foolish things of the world to confound the wise.
· Jesus says that he who believes in Him (that Jesus is the Son of
God, and that He rose from the dead) will never die! but have eternal
life. Amen.
With
the word of God as my shield, there is no force that can keep me apart
from the love of God. The Bible calls us to be bold and courageous. Know
your Bible. Hold on to the promises. Because when you do believe in the
promises of God, His power is released.
Now faith is the assurance of
things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1
And by faith even Sarah, who was past
childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered
him faithful who had made the promise. Hebrews 11:11
Faith
is about, believing without seeing. And it is living on the basis of
that conviction. Faith always produces a resulting ACTION.
Heroes
of Faith:
·
Abel offered to God a better sacrifice by
faith than Cain. He found favour in God’s eyes.
· Enoch-The man who walked with God-was taken
to heaven without death because of his faith.
·
Noah was warned that it would rain and that
it would result in a flood. It took Noah, 120 years to build the ark.
In all the time it took, people continued mocking but he continued
building in faith.
· Abraham packed up and left on the word of
the Lord without knowing where he was going. As hard as it was to go to
an unknown place, I believe that there was something Abraham did that
was even harder. When he got there, he was told to WAIT.
·
Sarah by faith was able to have a child,
though she was barren and was past the age. She believed that God would
keep His promise. Like
most of us, Sarah was looking at God's promise from her perspective.
But the Lord used her life to unfold an extraordinary plan, proving
that God is never restricted.
Abraham
was by faith prepared to sacrifice Isaac, his only son. He believed
that God could raise his son from the dead. At the last minute, God
intervened and supplied the necessary ram. This is a classic example of
faith and trust in God.
· Isaac, the promised child of
Abraham and Sarah, promised
blessings for the future to his sons, Jacob and Esau (twins). It's doubtless Isaac would ever forget how God
had delivered him from death by supplying the necessary lamb to be
sacrificed in his place
· Jacob had 12 sons who became heads of the 12 tribes. The turning point for Jacob came after a dramatic, all-night wrestling match with God. In the end the Lord touched Jacob's hip and he was a broken man, but also a new man. God renamed him Israel, which means "he struggles with God."
· Joseph (son of Jacob) is an extraordinary example of what can happen when a person surrenders his life in complete obedience to God.
· Moses is one of the most striking examples of heroic faith in the Bible. It was his willingness to obey God despite his many flaws that made Moses someone God could use--and use mightily indeed!
· Joshua led the people of Israel after Moses in their conquest of the Promised Land, beginning with the miraculous battle of Jericho. His strong faith and dependence on the Lord made him one of Israel's finest leaders. I love the point where he told the Sun and Moon to stand still when God promised him victory.
CONCLUSION:
Noah exercised faith in God when the entire world stood against him. Let
the life of Noah and all of the above heroes be an encouragement to
you. 120 years and Noah build with patience. Need I say more?
Sarah was 90 years of age
when she had Issac. With HOPE Sarah learned to believe and eventually
walked into the blessings that God had in store for her and the future.
God is faithful.
REMEMBER:
All of these heroes mentioned received God’s approval because of their
faith…” So, if things in life don’t turn out “well,” it does not mean the
end of the road. Faith is.....everything the Bible speaks about, but
you wouldn’t understand if you don’t make an attempt to read-not just
once, but however many times you can. The Word needs to sink into the
heart, and when it does, you will be able to understand the ways of God
like never before. Amen.
Day 25th December, 2016 – Fr. Reuben, Fr.
Ashlyn, Fr. Alvaro, Fr. Lenny & Deacon : Simon
The 9:15 am Sunday choir sang its best. It was
wonderful, better than the other years.
Everything I wrote in my topic TO BLOOM Dec 21,2012
matches with what happened on 25Dec 2016 (comparison bullet points with
details just below)
·
Sunday choir
sang its best.
·
Screen on the
wall displays: horses galloping.
·
Hot cocoa (&
slice of cake served.-not part of topic)
· Shimla had
its first snowfall in 26 yrs on the 25th December 2016.
My
topic - TO BLOOM: December 31, 2012.
When
a Christmas carol is sung what we like to watch is the
enthusiasm from the choir. Believe me you can have a really good
voice, but it aint nothing if you don’t have that spirit of Christmas
with you.
The
same thing goes for the snow effect. I can ask you how it feels like.
And you can say 'oh it’s just like the ice in the freezer'. There was
no enthusiasm or joy in the reply. While that may be the
truth, you could make it sound interesting. Couldn’t you?
Or
maybe add a little bit of mystery-or maybe a little bit of magic?
Love
to me is like the snow. If I’d ask you to explain, I wonder what you
would say. You know when it snows, how everything around looks so
wonderful. Picture this, it’s Christmas, and its beginning to snow, and
your standing in one of the alleys, waiting for some sort of means to
travel. You have hardly been there for a minute or so. But all of a
sudden-there is this horse carriage-that comes right where you’re
standing-mind you, you love horses (I do and I love horse carriages
too). And up there is a familiar person (the one you love) who asks you
to hop in for a ride to your home. And as you seat yourself, he offers
you some hot cocoa. And between the ride with the one you love,
the sip of hot cocoa and the twinkling stars in the sky-you wonder if
you’re dreaming. Could this be real?
Day 25th December, 2016 – Fr. Alvaro’s homily
on family life was very much what we all need to hear. He spoke on
family and how in a matter of speaking it is breaking down and how
Christmas day is our hope. He spoke of how in a crib, we have the holy
family, then the 3 wise men, the shepherds and the cattle. There could
be hills and plains and whatever the background. Each crib in the
making differs from the other. But one constant in all the cribs was
the holy family, Jesus, Mary and Joseph-this being our hope.
Day 23rd December, 2016 – Fr. Alvaro’s
Birthday.
Day 21st December, 2016 – Fr. Alvaro’s
Ordination Anniversary.
Day 12th December, 2016 – 3 hrs Eucharistic
Adoration.
Day 19th December, 2016 – 3 hrs Eucharistic
Adoration.
Day 26th December, 2016 – 3 hrs Eucharistic
Adoration.
Day 13th December, 2016 – 6:00 6:45 7:30 am
morning mass.
07:30 evening mass and 08:10 evening mass (prayer group)
– both mass by Fr. Ashlyn.
Thing is I wanted to start attending the prayer group meeting and I met Jordan near the Statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. I asked him if there was a prayer meeting today and then he told me there was going to be a mass. I was overjoyed.
The homily was delivered in the most wonderful manner
possible. Every word was crystal clear. Fr. Ashlyn gave an explanation
on the offertory and when explaining it Fr. Ashlyn spoke with such
love, it was like all the love in the world was right there where he
was. Yes it is, Jesus is-but to hear that manner of speaking, my goodness.
I still can go to that moment and when I do I know Heaven is there at
the offering of the holy sacrifice of Jesus during the mass. I just
wish you would know what it felt in my heart. I can write, I can speak
but the feeling....is unexplainable.
As
the year comes to a close, I thank God, for
God
Himself - my All
All the priests of Mt. Carmel
Fr. Alvaro, Fr. William, Fr. Joe, Fr. Ashlyn, Fr. Lenny (simplicity)
Fr. Reuben & Deacon Simon (The homily on trust-he explained on
with regards to the Old Testament-it was wonderful. Simon also happens to be my dads name).
My Dad & Mom, my cousins & my brothers.
and
Each
and every one of us.
I am thankful for the good & the bad.
People are always disappointed when they pray and there
is no response. The waiting period for people these days is the
hardest.
My mum loves watching the Jetsons cartoon. For a person
and as a woman, she works hard. The Jetsons is a cartoon that is set way
in the future, where everything happens at the press of a button.
Imagine that, with everything that is done automatically
– how and where could you learn patience from? Infact we may not be
that far into the future but look at us now, most of the things we do
are simplified? Our expectations have increased and so also our greed.
We crave for more even though we may not necessarily need them. But who
can tell us, because the friends we have are the ones we have chosen
and they can’t be any different. The new pledge is –‘The heart wants
what it wants’ and most of the time it wants is rubbish. When we do our
will, our heart is trained to want the things that the brain thinks are
necessary. We are ruled by emotions.
When we are ruled by emotions – we can go wrong. We need
the grace of God, to go on His Will to do the things in life that we
are called for.
Patience is something that we learn with time. When we
wait we learn many other factors that we would otherwise fail to
notice. Factors could be just about anything,
Do I believe? (what is my trust level with God)
God will help you with the answers. Take the first step
and He will take the 99.
What is faith and how do I know if I have it?
Faith is the opposite of fear.
How long do I wait?
The waiting period is always the best period. It teaches
us to trust in God. It shows whether we truly desire what we ask in
prayer. Or is it something that can make us change our opinion. The
longer we wait the stronger the desire. We learn to be patient with God
because when we wait with Him, He opens His heart to us.
It is then that we understand that God is only looking
out for our best He is teaching us more about ourselves than we
possibly can ever know or understand. And if we think that we waited
too long and take things into our own hands – the end result could be
disastrous. Maybe not immediately but results will happen over the
years to come.
Below I have mentioned an example. Now this is a little
angel and a very beautiful example indeed.
Day 18th December, 2016 – There is this
Christmas choir and it was on zone vice participation. This particular
zone had kids in the front row and adults at the back. I don’t know the
age of the youngest. But let’s say the kids are from 4-9 yrs probably.
And I’m guessing that she was 4. They all were able to reach the mike.
The little angel was the only one who could not, so when singing she
would actually jump to be able to reach the mike. She had the whole
audience around her little finger in a manner of speaking. I mean she
had us all watching her.
Finally someone gave her a cordless mike. And she was
amazed by it for 2 minutes or so. And then she lost her excitement
completely. I think she forgot that is what she wanted. But then kids
are always that way.
Remember: Sometimes we need to wait for things, because
it is in the waiting that we understand where God is taking us. He
reveals Himself to us, when we wait with a heart that is grateful.
Wishing you a very 'Happy New Year-2017!'
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