Bread of Life

• The Catechism
• Patron Saints
• Papal History
• Stations of the Cross
• Catholic Prayers
• Wkly Word Archives
• Return to St. Joe's

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~

Day after day I count, need I keep counting? I really pray. It may have seemed that I wasn't going anywhere soon but then I had a dream in which I believe God was telling me to be patient.

I felt I had been patient, it was just being locked up for 24 hours a day that was frustrating. I felt like a caged animal. I prayed and prayed all day long and asked the Lord for patience. Yes he grants me what I desire and he knows what my heart longs for, yet he was inclined to answer the prayer I truly needed answered and that was delivering me from the cage I was stuck in. But, the dream I had I truly felt that God was speaking in a way only I would understand.

Sometimes I'm not myself, I get angry, depressed, feel lonely and impatient. These feeling leave me wondering if God has forgotten about me. That's when I read "The Word" and it hits me, God has not forgotten about me, he's simply showing me that he works on his own time table.

Now this dream in which he spoke to me was incredible and I would like to share it with you.

It started with me and my father in a downtown area of a city I did not recognize. We were there because the hometown college football team had went undefeated and they were having a parade and celebration. My dad went to go buy some popcorn, I waited on a corner of an unknown street. I waited and waited and waited, yet he never returned. So I got anxious and upset and began to look for him. I searched a crowd and spotted him walking away with his back towards me. I yelled at him to get his attention, but he just kept on walking. As I followed him, trying to capture his attention I was suddenly transported into the middle of a celebration with the football team, and right there with me was my father explaining to me how if I am patient and wait, what I seek and ask for will be given to me. That's when I awoke.

I analyzed this dream and realized that our Father was telling me to stay patient and continue to seek with all my heart and I shall find what I am looking for, ask and it will be given unto me.

I've always heard about God speaking to people through dreams, honestly though, I never thought it would happen to me, but yet it has and he has told me to be patient and I must obey. Because true faith burns inside of me and it will never fade away.

"Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you shall find, knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, he who asks seeks shall find, and to him who knocks, the door shall be opened." (Matthew 7:7-8)

Faith is something we all need, you may say "Well I pray and do believe." but do you really? We all need to accept the fact that Jesus died for us to live, and we need to allow him to guide us. Invite him into your hearts, take up your cross and join him. That's where faith is true. To love him is to know him and to accept him as our Savior. Remember these words that Jesus tells us.

"I am the true vine, you are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine and you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me, you can do nothing." (John 15:1,3-5)

That there holds true to so many. In order for us to live fruitful, spiritual lives, we must continue to remain in Jesus. It doesn't take much, and I believe he is not asking that much of us. I find it easier day after day to remain in our Lord, and as a result of it, I am starting to see the fruit of which I desire. Thanks be to God, for he forgives us even when we fail.

The Lord does work in mysterious ways, so listen with your heart and you will hear what the word is telling you. If sometimes you feel that God is ignoring you....STOP! Analyze the world around you and listen with your heart. He never forgets about his children and never will.

"I have chosen the way of truth. i have set my heart on your laws, I hold fast to your statues O Lord; do not let me be put to shame. I run in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free." (Psalm 119:30-32)

So if you feel as if our Father has forgotten you, do three things.....KNEEL, PRAY, and LISTEN with your heart and you will hear his words spoken to you. He will guide you. All you need to do is listen.

May peace be with you all!

URLVD & PRAY ALL-WAYS

If you would like to comment on any article written or would like to contact one of our writers, please feel free to do so my filling out the simple form below. If you would also like to submit some sort of spiritual writing of your own, please feel free to let us know, we'd love to place your writing right here along with our regular writers. Thank you!