Grain of Wheat

 “Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat. But if it dies, it produces much fruit." John 12:24

The lives of saints and martyrs are so fascinating to me. Aren’t they like grains of wheat, seeds of faith, planted in the hearts of men and women whose desire is to follow God? Some of the worldly bent would say they lost their lives in vain, but in the eyes of God, these precious men and women gave up, in the words of martyr Jim Elliot, that which they could not keep to gain what they cannot lose.

In the period of about 300 years when Christians were hunted like animals and persecuted in Rome, there are amazing testimonies, too many to count, of men and women who were willing to die for Jesus. Not only were these martyrs thrown to the lions, but some were doused in oil, and used to light up the streets of Rome! 

St. Ignatius of Antioch has the horrific distinction of being the first Christian martyr of the Colosseum. He was thrown to the lions and was said to exclaim, “I am as the grain of the field and must be ground by the teeth of lions, that I may become fit for His table.” 

Then there is St. Lawrence of Rome, whose Feast Day we celebrate today. He was deacon of the Church under Pope Saint Sixtus II at the time Christianity was outlawed. When the Pope was executed, St. Lawrence was then the highest official of the Church. As such, he was tasked to bring the treasures of the Church to the Prefect of Rome, for the use of Emperor Valerian.

St. Lawrence sold the sacred vessels and gave the money to the poor. Then he gathered all the widows, the orphans, the maimed, the leprous, the sick and brought them to the Prefect. “Here are the treasures of the Church," he proclaimed.

The Prefect got furiously angry that he had St. Lawrence bound to a gridiron and ROASTED!!!! There is a legend going around that St. Lawrence quipped, "This side is done, turn me around!"

But what he really said was, “Sheltered under the name of Jesus Christ, I do not fear these pains, for they do not last long.” Tradition holds that after St. Lawrence’ death, many turned to Christ as a result of his faithfulness to God and love for the poor. Yes, truly he was a grain of wheat that died and bore much fruit. 

May we follow the examples of the saints in the sacrifices we offer for God and for our brothers and sisters every day. 

Still, Small Voice

 

“After the wind..the earthquake...there was fire- but the Lord was not in the fire. After the fire there was a tiny whispering sound." 1 Kings 19:12

Elijah, the great prophet was running for his life in fear and anguish. After all the mighty miracles, his great victories over his enemies, he wanted to give up! 

God had to remind him, and indeed all of us, that our strength comes from being with Him, praying, and listening to Him. 

Sometimes we look for miracles, demonstrations of great power, healings, to grow our faith. But our faith will grow if we get to know the God of the Bible, if we read His Word and listen for His still, small voice. 

Write Down the Vision

 “Write down the vision...for the vision still has its time, presses on to fulfilment, and will not disappoint...” Habakkuk 2:2-3

Like the prophet Habukkuk and many before and after him, I too ask why God allows evil, why He does not put a stop to all the billion peso corruption scandals and injustice and immoral leaders that causes the misery of so many of my countrymen both here and abroad. The list is long and I know these questions have troubled many and have even caused many to abandon their faith. 

Habakkuk asks: “Why do You gaze on the faithless in silence, while the wicked devour one more just than himself? ....Shall he then keep on brandishing his sword to slay peoples without mercy?”

When we read a great novel or admire an artist’s masterpiece, everything makes perfect sense when we see the whole and not just a part of it. The same is true with God’s great work of heART. We do not understand why He permits a major 7.8 magnitude earthquake in Mindanao, deadly landslides and floods. 

We can be sure God has a greater good in mind for us and His creation. I am reminded of Charles Templeton, a charismatic evangelist who would hold successful crusades around Europe in the 40s and 50s with Billy Graham. But he became an atheist partly because of this same complaint. How can a good God permit all the misery and violence and evil in this world? 

God answers Habakkuk: "Write down the vision clearly...for the vision still has its time, presses on to fulfillment, and will not disappoint. If it delays, wait for it...The righteous shall live by faith." (Habakkuk 2:2-4)

I think the key is the last verse. We need the eyes of faith because faith looks beyond the circumstances and rests on God's wisdom and His promises. The world has not changed much since the prophet’s time. Listening to the news about all the rape and killings in the most beautiful cities in the world can drive us to despair. What is God doing? Why does He allow any of it? Why did God allow Jesus to be humiliated and crucified?

I like the answer of Peter Kreeft, a Roman Catholic theologian. He compared Calvary to Judo: “The enemy’s own power is used to defeat him… Satan’s end was God’s means. God won Satan’s captives – us – back to himself by freely dying in our place.” 

So I try not to question God and His ways. I will just trust and have faith. Our God knows all the answers. We do not need the “answers” to our questions or the challenges life gives us, as much as we need God Himself! When we have nothing left but God, God is enough.

Follow Me

 “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me.” Matthew 16:24

I like reading about saints. They were ordinary people who loved God extraordinarily. Because of their love for God, they were able to fear the Lord (which really means to be in awe of Him), love and serve Him. On August 9, a couple of days from now, will be the Feast Day of a Jewish woman who became a Discalced Carmelite nun. She was murdered in the gas chamber in Auschwitz-Birkenau along with her sister Rosa, who was also a Carmelite nun. 

St. Edith Stein, also known as St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, rejected her family’s Jewish piety and became an atheist at the age of 13. In 1917, a colleague, Professor Adolf Reinach, was killed in the war. When Edith met the late Professor’s wife Anna, she was deeply impressed with Anna’s strong Christian faith and convictions. “This was my first encounter with the Cross and the divine power it imparts…my unbelief collapsed.”

She started reading the autobiography of St. Teresa of Avila and became drawn to the Catholic faith. After finishing the book, she  declared, “This is the truth!” She was baptized on January 1, 1922. She was very intelligent and she continued studying and writing. She translated the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas into German. Soon she became a teacher and lecturer around Europe about the role of Catholic women. 

When it became difficult to teach because of Nazi restrictions, she entered the Carmelites as Sister Teresa Benedicta of the Cross. She devoted her life to holiness and self-offering even as the Nazis forced her to wear the Star of David over her habit. Survivors of the death camp testified she helped all others with her there with great love and compassion. 

St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross herself wrote, “I talked with the Savior and told Him that I knew that it was His cross that was now being placed on the Jewish people; that most of them did not understand this, but that those who did would have to take it up willingly in the name of all. I would do that. He should only show me how.”

Yes, Lord, show us how. Show us also how to be a “witness to God’s presence in a world where God is absent,” as Professor Jan Nota wrote of the Saint.

Insider Information

 “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” Matthew 17:5�

We celebrate the Feast of the Transfiguration of our Lord today. In a letter he wrote shortly before his death, Saint Peter reminisces about when he Himself witnessed the transfiguration of Jesus. He writes that, “we were not making up clever stories when we told you about the power of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have seen His majestic splendor with our own eyes. And He received honor and glory from God the Father when God’s glorious, majestic voice called down from heaven, ‘This is my beloved Son. I am fully pleased with Him.’ We ourselves heard the voice when we were there with Him on the holy mountain.” 

Saint Peter continues, “Because of that, we have even greater confidence in the message proclaimed by the prophets. Pay close attention to what they wrote, for their words are like a light shining in a dark place...” 

This awesome experience made an incredible impact on the lives of Peter, James and John.  They each saw a glimpse of the glory beyond the cross. It was INSIDER INFORMATION and Saint Peter is telling us that, “We were EYEWITNESSES of His majesty! WE OURSELVES HEARD this voice from heaven!!! You HAVE to be attentive to this message!"

How urgent can that be? The message was so compelling that Saint Peter wanted to spread the message far and wide until he was martyred in Rome in the year 64 AD. Saint Peter said “Pay attention to what the prophets wrote.” Why? Saint Augustine said, “The New Testament lies hidden in the Old and the Old Testament is unveiled in the New.”

Are we paying attention? Are we listening? We are privileged to receive this insider information! Let us not let it go to waste!

We Shall Be Saved

 

She said, “Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters.” (Matthew 15:27)

I do not like the way Jesus treated the mother in this story in the Bible. She was a desperate woman for her daughter was tormented by a demon, so she approached Jesus and asked Him for pity. He ignored her at first and His disciples even encouraged Him to send her away! All because she was Canaanite and not a Jew! But eventually, they have an exchange of words which shows that all what preceded was a test of faith. Jesus came for the chosen people, true, but God’s heart is so big, even the Gentiles are included in His plan. 

“I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel,” Jesus told her. But the woman persisted, saying, “Lord, help me.” Jesus answered, “It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.” She pleaded, “Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters.” Then Jesus said to her in reply, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed from that hour.

Isn’t it that sometimes we do not like God’s answers to our prayers? We even sulk or sometimes stop talking to Him because we feel He has forgotten us or is ignoring us. If this Canaanite woman stopped talking to Jesus, her daughter would not have been healed. She was humble. She persisted. She pleaded. She reasoned with Him. The stories in the Bible are not just stories for our reading pleasure. It is intentionally written for us to learn from. If we ever feel like God is ignoring us, stop! God is not an ATM machine where after pressing some buttons we get what we ask for. He sees our hearts, He knows us, and knows what we need to prod us to more faith, to a closer relationship with Him. 

Father, so many of us are continuously pleading for help. Many are in need of healing, a better livelihood, peace of mind, mending of relationships. Please help us. Give us, gracious Father, crumbs from Your Table, and we shall be saved. 

God Knows Us

 “It is not what enters one’s mouth that defiles the man; but what comes out of the mouth is what defiles one.” Matthew 15:11

When my mother was still alive, we went on a tour of pilgrimage sites in Europe with Father Suarez and two other priests. She wanted to do this because she was diagnosed with tongue cancer. On the very first day, we waited to have lunch in a busy Chinese restaurant in Paris. While seated inside, we noticed that the waiters removed the tea cups from a pail, and placed them on our table. The insides of the cups were filthy with the tea residue. After discussion, we left, along with many of our tour mates. The dirt inside the tea cups was easy to see. Even the pail was yukky and lined with newspaper! What an experience in one of the most beautiful cities in the world! 

In contrast, only God can see what is inside us! Jesus saw that the Pharisees were hypocrites, that they were experts in making people feel guilty about small matters of the law, while they themselves neglected what was more important to God, loving our neighbor and putting God first. In Psalm 139, David wrote, “O Lord, You have probed me and You know me...You understand my thoughts...my journeys and my rest you scrutinize, with all my ways You are familiar.” 

Yes, God knows us inside out. We cannot hide from Him. He made us and we are His. We cannot fool Him. Just as He probes us, let us probe ourselves as well, observing what we need to repent of. What comes out of our mouth and heart? 

“For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” (Matthew 12:34) 

“The good person out of the good treasure of the heart produces good, and the evil person out of evil treasure produces evil; for it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks.” (Luke 6:45)

He loves us in spite of our weakness and sin. He is willing to help us to become more than conquerors! 

Take Courage

 Jesus said to the disciples, “Take courage, it is I, do not be afraid!" Mark 6:50

When I was young, my father had a boat and once he took our family out to sea. Unfortunately although the day started out fine, when we were way out, the wind became strong and I thought we were going to die! I started to panic and pray. But I looked at my father and he was so calm as if there was nothing to worry about. He was enjoying himself. 

So I felt better, and my panic dissipated. When we are in the midst of any terrifying storm, if we look at the circumstances, we can panic and feel afraid. But if we look at Jesus knowing He can calm any storm, we will be at peace, the "peace beyond understanding".

Right now, I am in the midst of a storm. I have pulmonary hypertension and my doctor keeps telling me it is a progressive disease. Sometimes I feel so weak and helpless like yesterday when I couldn’t even go to mass from my breathlessness. I can panic and be terrified at what the future can bring, realizing no doctor can cure me. But I choose to look to God who created me and loves me. He took care of me my whole life, and I know that being at the center of His will is the very best for me!

Nothing Can Separate Us

 "For I am convinced, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:38-39

Saint Paul, who had a direct line to heaven was convinced, believed to his very core, persuaded that nothing, absolutely nothing could separate us, sever us, isolate us, block us off from, divide us, disconnect us from the unfailing, merciful, faithful, encompassing, forgiving love of God.

Certainly not death, no principalities or powers, no enemies that want to destroy us, no evil spirits or lying men.

Nothing present in our life now, our mental state, our physical condition, the company we keep, our finances, the way we think or feel, our unworthiness, even if we are convinced we do not deserve God's love! All these cannot separate us from His love!

Nothing in our future- our anxieties, uncertainties, doubt!No height of absurdity, depth of despair. Nothing in our past, no creature in our past or present or future who left us, who destroyed us, shackled us, will be able to divide us from the love our Father has for us.

Help me to see that You are always by my side! Help me to be convinced as Saint Paul was convinced and sure of, that You love me!

Do not allow anyone or anything to steal this conviction from me!!!

Faith Like a Muscle

 “And he did not work many mighty deeds there because of their lack of faith.” Matthew 13:58

Whenever I give an art workshop, I always say that creativity is like a muscle. We all have it, but if we don’t exercise it, it will be limp, and useless. Use it all the time, and it will bloom and grow. There are many exercises and challenges available online to increase creativity. Creativity is not just for artists. Business people, teachers, mothers and fathers, every one on the planet  needs it all the time to be more effective, and successful in their jobs, roles and relationships. 

In Matthew 13:58, we read that Jesus did not do many miracles in His hometown because of the people’s lack of faith. Is faith like a muscle as well? Can we grow in faith just as we can grow in creativity? No doubt about it! Like the gift of creativity, God has also given each one of us, a seed of faith. “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ”, St. Paul writes in Romans 10:17.

We can go to God’s gym to develop our spiritual muscles by exercising our faith everyday, by believing in God’s promises, by rebuking the enemy’s whispers of hopelessness and deception. If someone is sick, we should pray for him and not be shy or insecure that our prayers will not work. Whatever challenge comes our way, let us use our faith muscles and one day we will be spiritual Schwarzeneggers!!! 

Let us become so strong in the faith that the devil trembles when we get up in the morning!!!

Like Clay

 

“Like the clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in My hand.” Jeremiah 18:6

Anyone who has tried to work with clay will know that the quality, the workability of the clay determines much of what the potter can make out of it. At the start, the clay just looks like mud with a lot of stones and twigs and leaves in it as it is dug out of a river bank or even a construction site. The potter can’t use it until he removes all the alien matter by using a sieve or processing it by hand. Can you imagine how painful that would be if we were the clay? 

After the clay is prepared, the potter puts it on a potter’s wheel and turns it round and round much like we experience the trials and challenges of life again and again! Unlike clay, we can choose to be malleable in God’s hands and cooperate with what He wants to do. Sometimes God uses a low temperature to fire us up. But if He uses a higher temperature, we should know that He wants to make us useful for His own purposes. Clay of good quality like kaolin or porcelain need higher temperatures and are fired repeatedly but they can be made into plates, and cups and vases and they can be decorated with glaze. 

None of the pain we experience at the hands of the Master Potter is ever wasted. The longer He works in us, that means He is working to remove all that does not please Him in our character, the more He is making us useful and beautiful in His sight. 

Thank You Lord, that I am in Your hands! The best place in the world for me! We need only to trust in You! 

One Thing

 “One thing is required..." Luke 10:42

What is that one thing that Jesus says is required?

Can you imagine if Jesus visits your home- Your name is Martha, and you welcome Him. Your sister Mary sits at His feet and listens to everything He is saying. You want to listen too. His Words pull You, and you want to learn from Him. But you have to be in the kitchen because you are preparing dinner for Jesus and His disciples. You get really frustrated, and you feel it is unfair that Mary is not helping in the kitchen. So you say something. "Lord, are You not concerned that Mary has left me all alone to prepare everything? Tell her to help me!"

I guess this is born out of Martha's frustration that she wants to be at His feet too! I would have thought that Martha would be happy Mary was doing the "entertaining" of their guest! Jesus rebukes her gently, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and upset about many things; one thing only is required. Mary has chosen the better portion and she shall not be deprived of it." Jesus, who knows Martha's heart and mind, knows she is upset about many things. He wants her to sit down at his feet too. Dinner can wait. First things first.

We know that Martha listened. In John 11;40, when Jesus returned to their village because his friend and their brother Lazarus died, he asked that the stone be rolled away. Martha protested, "Lord, Lazarus has been dead for 4 days. There will be an awful stench!" Jesus turned to her, "Martha, Martha, did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?" Jesus' conversations with Martha and Mary have not been recorded, but we too can have our own conversations with the Lord. When we are bothered and upset about many things, Jesus knows. He calls us to have a conversation with Him. To sit at his feet. Dinner can wait. Laundry can wait. Worrying can wait. Only one thing is required. That we listen to him. That we believe. That is the only way we will see the glory of God.

Yes Lord, I will listen. I believe! I want to see Your glory!

The Kingdom of Heaven

 “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed with three measures of wheat flour until the whole batch was leavened.” Matthew 13:33

Jesus told many parables about the kingdom of heaven. I guess He wanted us to ponder what heaven was really like. Jesus proposed that the kingdom of heaven may be likened to a man who sowed good seed in his field but an enemy sowed weeds in it when everyone was sleeping. When the man’s helpers asked if they should pull up the weeds, he said no because the wheat would get uprooted as well. He advised them to wait till harvest, and then the weeds would be separated and thrown into the fire to be destroyed. Doesn’t this show that God is very patient? In this world, the enemy has sown bad seeds but one day, we will see God’s justice. When the day of judgement comes, those who have chosen to oppose God will be separated and punishment will be meted out to them. 

Then Jesus compared the kingdom to a tiny mustard seed that would grow into the largest of plants. Faith is that tiny mustard seed. When we nurture our seed of faith all things are possible! 

Then we have the third parable where the kingdom of heaven is likened to yeast. The sizes of this single cell microorganism vary greatly, depending on species and environment, typically measuring 3–4 µm or micrometer in diameter. So small! Sometimes my husband makes bread, but he doesn’t do it often enough for my liking. So one time he used yeast that was dead already because it was in our shelf for too long. After waiting for some time, the dough did not rise. Yeast is the ingredient that produces gas that makes the bread rise. It feeds on the sugars in flour, and expels carbon dioxide in the process. How can the kingdom of heaven be like yeast? 

Like the mustard seed, yeast is tiny as well. God apparently likes to work slowly, using small things, sometimes these are too small to be noticed at first. But just like a mustard seed grows into a large plant, and the bread that grows because of the yeast, the kingdom of heaven cannot fail to spread far and wide. Christianity started with just a ragged taggle bunch of inexperienced preachers but armed with zeal, faith, and the might of the Holy Spirit, they travelled and reached the far corners of the known world. 

The enemy has always tried to plant bad seed within and without the church, but as we are assured in Jesus’ parable, He is the one allowing all these evil and wickedness to remain until one day they will be uprooted and incinerated. We know the Kingdom of heaven will prevail, no matter how bad things seem. As Jesus promised, “Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.” (Matthew 16:18)

Only One Way

 

“When he finds a pearl of great price, he goes and sells all that he has and buys it.” Matthew 13:46

The largest natural giant clam pearl on record is the Pearl of Puerto Princesa, followed closely by the Giga Pearl and the historical Pearl of Lao Tzu. The latter is valued at $35 million and was found in 1934. The former was found by a fisherman inside a giant clam. It is huge, more than 2 feet long, and 1 foot wide and weighs 75 pounds! The fisherman hid it under his bed, his house burned down, and the pearl survived. The pearl is valued at an amazing 100 million dollars! 

Even if I sold all I had, I could not buy that pearl! And what in the world would I do with it? Jesus gave all He had, even His very life for something He considered His pearl of great price. Mankind. Are we worth it? He must have seen beyond the surface because when I look around me, when I read the news, and the rude comments on Facebook, it seems like people are getting worse every day! 

I remember going to a pearl farm in Hanoi several years ago. The guide showed us these ugly, mud encrusted shells. We had to dig into all that muck to find the pearl. I know Jesus sees the pearl in us, encased in sin and the mud of our own selfishness. He was willing to give up His glory, His power, to be crucified by the very men He came to save, just so He could ransom us from our hopeless state. We too should try to see our brothers and sisters as pearls of great price. How do we bring ourselves out of the muck? There is only one way, and Jesus is that way, the truth and the life. 

Thank You Lord! I cannot imagine what You went through to save us! 

Treasure in Earthen Vessels

 

“We hold this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassing power may be of God and not from us.” 2 Corinthians 4:7

Of the short stories in the book “Chicken Soup for a Woman’s Soul”, the one that impressed me was that of Mary Kay Ash. Like many women in the book, she had a hard childhood, a difficult time trying to earn a living, and although she made good sales for the company she worked for, it was the men who would get promoted. When her first husband divorced her, she was left with three children to support. We can say she was “afflicted in every way, but not constrained; perplexed but not abandoned; struck down but not destroyed...”. (2 Corinthians 4:8-9)

In 1963, after quitting from a job where women were not given the same opportunities as men, she started her own cosmetics company with $5,000.00 and her family backing her up. Her sons and her mom always said, “You can do it, Mary Kay.” They saw the gold in her earthen vessel.  Mary Kay’s company was founded not on competition, but on the Golden Rule, on praising people to succeed and on the principle of placing faith first, family second and career third. It was a company – as Mary Kay Ash would say – "with heart." Mary Kay died in 2001, but what she built lives on.

It is the Feast Day of St. James the Apostle today.  And it is so fitting that we read from St. Paul's 2nd letter to the Corinthians. Like St. James and all the other saints, we are 'earthen vessels', fragile, weak, easily broken. And like St. James, we hold the treasure of God's Spirit, something more valuable than any gold or precious metal. From a man of quick temper and selfishness, he became a man who traveled long distances to preach the good news and was the first of the apostles to be martyred for Christ. 

Let’s not forget we all have this treasure in earthen vessels. Sometimes adversity brings it out.  Other times we just need others to encourage us and say, “You can do it!” Nothing is impossible with God!

Unload!

 “Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it.” Matthew 13:7

This well known Parable of the Sower and the Seed teaches us many things. The Word is seed and only the seed which falls on good soil will bear much fruit. Perhaps we read the Bible and pray in the morning, but during the day, the cares and burdens of the day suffocate the Word. We do not stop to praise God for the good, and lift up our challenges. We do not stop for some quiet time to see our day and the people who bother us with God’s eyes. Irritation and anger comes in, even gossip. The seed has no chance to grow amidst these “thorns”.

In a little town in Russia a long time ago, women would have to carry their huge baskets on their shoulders to bring to the market to sell. They walked a long way and it was very hard work. We can imagine how happy they were when they built train tracks through their little town. They would be able to ride the train to market. On the first day the train passed through, the women waited at the station. Alas! they could not fit their huge baskets in through the train entrance. They tried carrying the baskets on their side, their back, on top of them, but they could not fit it in. “Ladies!” the conductor said, “To enter, you have to unload!”

The same way with us. Sometimes we are overloaded with our bags and packages of busyness, worries, quarrels, misunderstandings, unforgiveness and pains. Jesus said He is willing to take our burdens from us (Matthew 11:28-30, Psalm 55:22, Isaiah 58:6, 1 Peter 5:6-7 and many more). Let us unload our burdens on Jesus and we will be free to plant seed in the rich soil of our hearts and bear fruit, a hundred or sixty or thirty fold.

You See

 “But blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear. Amen, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.” Matthew 13:16-17

Don Schwager, an American missionary, wrote, “God can only reveal the secrets of his kingdom to the humble and trusting person who acknowledges their need for God and for His truth.” 

In the brutal war of Russia against the invading armies of Napoleon, Tsar Aleksandr Pavlovich resorted to going down on his knees in the Assumption Cathedral in the Kremlin. He kissed the holy relics and prayed for a miracle while Moscow was burning. According to one writer, God sent a “minor, minor prophet” in the form of a savage winter that ravaged Napoleon’s forces.

“The terrible sufferings of the French on their return march are well-known. There was even cannibalism, - a sure sign of apocalyptic times, - as the soldiers of the Great Army began to put their fellow-soldiers in the stew pots. Out of the vast army - nearly 600,000 men, only about half of whom were French - that set out for Russia, only 120,000 returned, 35,000 of them French. The Russians lost 400,000, but they had saved their homeland.” The Tsar had been humble enough to go down on his knees and acknowledge that they needed God’s help.

Today, here and now, we need God’s intervention. We need to go down on our knees to implore God to save us from the invisible but insidious enemy who wants to destroy the truth, our families, marriages, our schools and even our country. May this realization draw us closer to God, eager to hear what He has to say.

I Have Seen the Lord

 

“I have seen the Lord!” Mary went and announced to the disciples. (John 20:18)

We may think we have very few occasions in which to proclaim this. Some will even say they have never seen the Lord. I know someone who was visited by Jesus when she was young and sick in bed. And then there is the star sportscaster, Nick Charles, who died of bladder cancer. He too was visited by Jesus who sat with him while he was struggling with pain. “It wasn’t a hallucination,” he said. He told Jesus he was ready to go home, but Jesus said, “Not yet.”

I like the story in 1 Kings 19:11-13. The awesome prophet Elijah was told by the Father to “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” A great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard the gentle whisper, he knew it was the Lord. Usually we will hear the Lord and experience Him when we are waiting in silence. He cannot come if we are surrounded by noise and busyness all the time. 

I saw a Facebook post of Mel Gibson talking to a bloody and battered Jim Caviezel, who acted the part of Jesus in the blockbuster movie, “The Passion of the Christ”. Mel Gibson looked like he was having a deep conversation with Jesus. The thing is, Jesus is always waiting for us to talk to Him. “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.” (Revelation 3:20) That is a promise we should claim again and again. 

We should carve out time to make a friend of Jesus who is willing to get bloodied and battered for us! If we open the door every day, one day we will say with excitement, “I have seen the Lord and it was awesome!”