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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~

Recently I had someone ask why I believe in Jesus. I was stunned at first, and then felt I needed to answer only with the help of the Holy Spirit. I made a request real fast to Jesus and was answered because I have been given the gift of Faith. They wanted to know what Faith was, why would God give it to me and not them and how did I know I had it? I was in a group and everyone was stunned but all tried to answer. This got me wondering, how should we answer those questions?

Webster defines Faith as a noun with the following explanations:

1: belief or trust- belief in, devotion to, or trust in somebody or something, especially without logical proof
2: religion or religious group- a system of religious belief, or the group of people who adhere to it.
3: trust in God- (personally I think this one should be number one.) belief in and devotion to God
4: set of beliefs– a strongly held set of beliefs or principles
5: loyalty- allegiance or loyalty to somebody or something

I found many paragraphs on Faith in The Catechism of the Catholic Church, below are just a few.

163 Faith makes us taste in advance the light of the beatific vision, the goal of our journey here below. Then we shall see God "face to face", "as he is". So faith is already the beginning of eternal life: when we contemplate the blessings of faith even now, as if gazing at a reflection in a mirror, it is as if we already possessed the wonderful things which our faith assures us we shall one day enjoy.

164 Now, however, "we walk by faith, not by sight"; we perceive God as "in a mirror, dimly" and only "in part". Even though enlightened by him in whom it believes, faith is often lived in darkness and can be put to the test. The world we live in often seems very far from the one promised us by faith. Our experiences of evil and suffering, injustice and death, seem to contradict the Good News; they can shake our faith and become a temptation against it.

164 Now, however, "we walk by faith, not by sight"; we perceive God as "in a mirror, dimly" and only "in part". Even though enlightened by him in whom it believes, faith is often lived in darkness and can be put to the test. The world we live in often seems very far from the one promised us by faith. Our experiences of evil and suffering, injustice and death, seem to contradict the Good News; they can shake our faith and become a temptation against it.

"We taste in advance the light of the beatific vision" is a comforting thought for me, and I'm sure I've felt that way many times during Eucharist but are any of these statements answering the questions I was asked, why can't I be given Faith if it's a gift, why have you received it and I haven't. God welcomes and wants all of us to believe in Him and follow His truths. And we are to help the unbelievers to come into the belief of truth, we are all one body, and not one part is more important than the other. Together we are the Body of Christ. How do we answer those questions? Why doesn't she believe? Is it possible for me with help from the Holy Spirit to find an adequate answer for her? I said I would pray, is that enough? It's the best thing we can do but to her does she feel that's any help. I'm sure if she's searching and questioning she'll find her answers. Let us remember to always life up the unbelievers in our daily prayers.

There is a beautiful song ~ Breath of Heaven ~ I have put it in my CD player and hit repeat many times so I can sing over and over again these lyrics:

BREATH OF HEAVEN, HOLD ME TOGETHER
BE FOREVER NEAR ME, BREATH OF HEAVEN
BREATH OF HEAVEN, LIGHTEN MY DARKNESS
POUR OVER ME YOUR HOLINESS FOR YOU ARE HOLY
BREATH OF HEAVEN
Breath of Heaven
Pour your holiness on this person and all who struggle with Faith.
Lighten her darkness keep her searching for your holiness for you are holy
Breath of Heaven.

URLVD

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