The Weekly Word

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~

Spreading the Word spiritually, creatively, inspirationally, and historically on a weekly basis, by St. Joe's own parishoners

Thy Will Be Done

by Patti LaRue

"And Mary said, 'Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be to me according to your word.'"...Luke 1:38

Powerful words coming from a young girl still in her teens after being told that she had been chosen by God to bear His son. Yet within just a matter of minutes, during a short conversation with the angel Gabriel, she had no second thoughts, she didn't request that she be given time to think about it. She didn't require of the angel or God to come back in a week when she would have had more time to mull over what had just been asked of her. And a lot had just been asked of her.

Powerful words coming from a young girl...

...still in her teens

To have a child in the first place is a daunting task, but for it to be the Son of God is well, nearly impossible to comprehend. And if that were not a large enough task there, this was during a time when a woman could be stoned to death for having a baby outside of marriage. Right there would make most of us look at Gabriel and say "I don't think so, no way, no how. Uh huh, not me." Yet Mary, didn't even hesitate for one moment to accept the will of God. How astounding is that? To have so much faith and so much willingness to accept whatever God asked of her and never questioning whether or not she should accept His request.

She could have said "No." She had as much free will as any of us do, but instead she chose to say "Yes."

Think about that for a moment, she said yes. Think about where we all would be right now had she said no.

Now think about how many times God has come to you and asked something of you and I'm sure it's not nearly as daunting of a request as Mary had to face, and what have you done? Have you accepted it willingly, without question, without aprehension? Or have you struggled with it, have you argued with Him, have you told Him you'd have to think about it and you'd let Him know later? I know I have. And how many times have you chosen to say no?

She could have said "No."... ...

...instead she chose to say "Yes."

Look at it in this light, what does it feel like when you ask a friend or a loved one to do something for you and their answer is no? How does that make you feel? Sure you might walk away saying that you understand, but deep down how does that make you feel? Not very good does it? You feel hurt maybe even unloved at that moment? So why would we think saying no to God wouldn't make Him feel the same way? The one that understands love beyond our comprehension, because He is love.

So think of all the times that you have said no to God and imagine the hurt that you have given the one who loves you beyond any human realm of love. Imagine the sorrow we bestow upon Him in our refusal to accept His will and His word. Yet He never refuses to love us, He never refuses to listen to us, He never gives up on us.

Mary should be our role model for acceptance and faith and any time that God asks something of us, we should immediately remember Mary's beautiful words of acceptance "...let it be to me according to your word."

URLVD

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