Bread of Life

Prayer...

Prayer is, in the strictest sense, a humble religious petition of man to God to seek divine benevolence and benefits he needs for life, both temporal and eternal. It is a conversation with God, either by accepted prayer forms, or from the heart. Consider these words as if God were speaking them to His children...

"It is not necessary my child, to know much in order to please me much; it is enough that you love me fervently. Speak here to me then, as you would speak to your most intimate friend, to your mother, to your brother."

~God your Father~

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

Quotes to Live By

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~

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Forgiveness and Prayer

by Patti LaRue

Forgiveness and prayer should go hand in hand. There should not be one without the other. The strange thing about both of them is tht a lot of people have trouble doing both. At times it is one or the other yet not both and probably the one that is chosen the most by people would be prayer. This is not to say that there is something wrong with prayer a lone, but in order for us to truly find the path to forgiveness, we first must know prayer.

Forgiveness and prayer...

...should go hand in hand.

"God is merciful and will hear your prayer. Prayer is the best weapon we have, it is the key to Gods heart." St. Padre Pio. Prayer is the key to Gods heart, how wonderful is that? Isn't it amazing that all we have to do is pray and God will give us the key to His heart?! When we pray, we are opening the door to the compassion and mercy that God has for us. So if we are looking for forgiveness we need just ask through prayerful confession to reconcile our hearts and souls with God. Forgiveness is just a prayer away.

Forgiveness...

...is just a prayer away.

What about forgiving others? Where does that fit into the scheme of things? It is definitely a lot easier to ask God for His forgiveness of our own transgressions through prayer. But; what do we do about those who we feel have wronged us, threatened us, hurt us or someone we know and love dearly such as a friend or family member? How do we handle the business of forgiveness in this situation?

I will be the first one to admit that this is sometimes where I hit a brick wall. This is sometimes where I come skidding to a halt. This is not to say that I am always slow to forgive. As a matter of fact I don't find it difficult to forgive family and friends whatsoever. In fact I've been told that at times I'm too quick to forgive. Although I beg to differ on that because Christ would never think that you could ever be too quick to forgive. However; there are those select few that have done things to family or whomever that I continue to struggle with forgiving.

So how do you deal with the inability to forgive someone? I struggle with that question often. I continually ask for forgiveness for my inability to forgive at times. I've been told on several ocassions by priests that the best way to overcome the hurdles of the inability to forgive is to pray. Wow, imagine that, pray to be able to forgive. I've been told that if you pray every day for the one that you are having trouble forgiving, put them at the top of your list for God to bless, then eventually over time, you will begin to believe in forgiving them and finally will.

The next time you find yourself in a situation where you find it extremely difficult to forgive someone, pray, pray that God will bless them, pray that God will help guide you to forgiveness. Even if you do not face the person and say you have forgiven them, God will know in your heart that you have. Being able to forgive helps us move on and lightens the burden that may have been weighing down our hearts.

URLVD

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