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He Gave His Only Son

"Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed."

John 21:29

• There should be less talk. A preaching point is not a meeting point.


• The dying, the cripple, the mental, the unwanted, the unloved-- they are Jesus in disguise.


• In the West there is loneliness, which I call the leprosy of the West. In many ways it is worse than our poor in Calcutta. (Commonweal, Dec 19, 1997)


• It is not how much we do, but how much love we put in the doing. It is not how much we give, but how much love we put in the giving.


• The poor give us much more than we give them. They're such strong people, living day to day with no food. and they never curse, never complain. We don't have to give them pity or sympathy. We have so much to learn from them.


• I see God in every human being. When I wash the leper's wounds, I feel I am nursing the Lord himself. Is it not a beautiful experience?


• I do not pray for success. I ask for faithfulness.


• Let us not be satisfied with just giving money. Money is not enough, money can be got, but they need your hearts to love them. So, spread your love everywhere you go.


• If you judge people, you have no time to love them.

~Mother Teresa~

Saturday, April 21st, was the LOOP ladies fundraiser dinner for the Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist. It was a wonderful, happy and joyful evening. I don't think the night could have turned out much better. Everyone had fun, the food was great, and the MC did a fantastic job. Lots of money was raised to help the Sisters who were most appreciative and amazed that we would want to do this for them. Everyone was happy and glad that the evening had progressed the way it did. Lots of the LOOP ladies had stressed and worried as the night drew closer and wondered if everything would all work out. I, however, was just 'hanging loose' after enjoying a week in Hawaii with family and knew the Holy Spirit would be with us after all the months of planning and lead us as we worked together for such a worthy cause. And of course we were not let done. God is good all the time, all the time God is good.

After the event as I walked through the parking lot to get rid of some debris a car pulled up next to me and a young women asked me if I could help. It was after 10:30 at night and I was surprised to see it was no one I recognized. I asked what it was she needed help with. She began to tell me that all her family, friends and herself were in trouble. She said they were in danger and she was afraid for all of them. I asked her if she needed to come in and she said no, she just wanted to talk with someone and get some help or answers. She was scared and didn't know where to turn, all the things she choose to do were wrong and she made mistake after mistake. I told her pulling into a church parking lot was the right place to start looking for help and not a mistake at all. She could turn around her life is she would let Jesus take over and start helping.

She began to tell me I didn't understand the mistakes she'd done. Boy had she picked the right person to talk to. I listened as she told me things about her life and I knew she needed to hear my story. I proceeded her with a shortened version because I knew she needed to talk and not listen. She began to cry and ask me how she could change things. I told her Jesus loved her and He wanted her know that. I asked if she could come to Mass and she said she had to work in the morning. I asked her if I could go get her a bible. If she could read a little before next weekend and come to Mass then, maybe that would be a way to start. She told she had a bible and she would try that. We said the Our Father together as she cried and I held her. Another person walked by and thought she was interrupting when she heard me talking but I called her over to pray again with the girl. She thanked me and hugged me and cried but told me she would get her bible out and pray.