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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~

This weekend we celebrate The Baptism of the Lord. What does that mean for Jesus and for us? Why would Jesus need to be baptized? A big part of baptism is the element of forgiveness of sin. Jesus is the sinless one. The event had other significances. As part of God's plan for our salvation, God wanted the connection of Jesus to us to be real. Jesus chose to be part of the baptism reserved for humans. That is why Jesus is fully human and fully divine. Therefore, if Jesus is one of us, we can relate to what he is doing and we can have confidence that we can do some of the same things.

When Jesus was baptized the heavens opened and God spoke that Jesus was His son with whom He is well pleased. In addition, the Spirit came upon Jesus. At this point, Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit and He began His ministry on earth. He didn't begin His ministry when he was born or when he taught in the synagogue at an early age. He begins His ministry when he was filled with the Holy Spirit.

We are baptized and are filled with the Holy Spirit. We can begin our ministry. We are so fortunate that we can call on the Holy Spirit to guide us. So many folks don't have this ability or do not take advantage of this ability. This is unfortunate because we need this. Since we were created by God, we have a natural ingrain yearning to be in close contact with our creator. When we are not in this relationship with God, things are just not right in our life. But we have the Spirit to help us and guide us and keep us in relationship with God.

We can begin our ministry. Let the Holy Spirit guide you on what your gifts are to be shared with the world. You can do your part as part of the Body of Christ. Use your skills to make a difference to those people who are less fortunate, get connected to those around you who are emotionally hurt, encourage those who are physically hurt, help lonely people, do a good deed to a stranger, or perhaps visit homebound people. We can make a difference here on earth if we stay connected to God.

URLVD

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