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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What Gifts Do You Have?

by Patti LaRue

I was recently told that I had been given many gifts from the Holy Spirit a list of which were recited to me by a dear friend of mind. She felt that it was time that I knew what they were. And she proceeded to list them for me.

She felt that it was time ....

...that I knew what they were.

Creativity
Administration (being able to organize and lead)
Humility
Council
Forgiveness
Compassion
Scripture Discernment (choosing the right scripture for the right moment)
Visions
Healing

Afterwards she looked me straight in the eyes and said "I feel your two strongest are visions and healing and I'd like to know why you don't use them?" She asked me if I saw things during mass or envisioned things and I told her yes but thought I was nuts. She shook her head and said "No not nuts, gifted, you need to share these visions with others, God will direct you on whom to share them with. But it's the healing you need to share with others the most. You need to do more laying of your hands on people in time of prayer, I'm not saying you can heal them from a an illness and they'll walk away perfectly well, but you have the gift to help heal their spirit and you must learn to use it."

I couldn't answer her on why I didn't use these gifts she claimed I had that were so strong until our October Back to Prayer Night, while during Father's teaching, it hit me and hit me hard. I finally understood, I simply did not feel worthy to be given such gifts.

I then approached my friend and told her I now knew why, and that it was my feeling of unworthiness that kept me from using these gifts. She smiled and said "Halleluiah! How exciting is that?! Now you know the reason, you just need to work on that, know God loves you and begin using what God has given you to share with the world!"

...I simply did not feel worthy ...

...to be given such gifts.

What gifts has the Holy Spirit bestowed upon you that you don't feel worthy to share, or that you simply don't want to share with others in God's name? Make a list of those gifts or ask someone to discern for you what gifts they feel that you have. Then ask yourself why you don't share them or use them?

We need to understand our gifts, and realize that they are not given for us to hoard, to keep for ourselves but they are gifts that we must find some way to share with the world so that others too can experience the love of God in all His greatness through the gifts bestowed upon us by His Holy Spirit.

URLVD

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