THE MAN BORN BLIND
The gospel of John 9:1-41 is the Sunday gospel today. This man was physically blind and our Lord healed him. The majority of us are not physically blind but we are blind in other areas of our lives. Are we blinded by our core values? Are we blind emotionally or spiritually? Do we reject the Church and her teachings? God so loves us! He gave us the Church to guide and protect us, to interpet the scriptures for us. It takes courage to look at ourselves....Holiness is wholeness. Our Lord wants us to be whole. This can be a very painful process and some of us will use drugs, alcohol shopping, or even God(he was my addiction) to mask the pain. But it is only in really looking at ourselves that we can become whole. I personally read allot of self help books on codependency ect. The road was painful and long but it is necessary. Some adults never grow up emotionally. They still act like immature children and this is such a shame.
Jesus comes to open our eyes, to heal our wounds if we allow him in. Father Howard gave a wonderful sermon today on suffering. He said many people come to him all upset and think God has abandoned them or is punishing them when they go through difficult times. He said his response to them is "Have you read the Gospels?" Christ's friends will suffer. It is the difficult things in life that transforms us in to the image of our Lord. It's an opportunity for our Faith to grow. Father's sermon was like balm to my soul. A gentle reminder that life can and is very hard at times. That the Christian life is not about living in a comfort zone. It's about being made into the image and likeness of our Lord. If suffering was good enough for our Lord then it's good enough for us. All the Saints suffered. Why is it our natural response to think God has abandoned us in our time of suffering?
I was talking with a young gal and she had read about a Jewish man who became an atheist after surviving the Holocaust. She as many often ask that if there is a God how could he allow this? I shared with her that we all have a choice.....no matter how deep the hole God's love for us is deeper. We can harden our hearts or open them to God such as Father Walter Ciszek. He was falsely
convicted of being a "Vatican Spy" during WW II and imprisoned for 23 years in Soviet prisons and the labor camps of Siberia. His book which is a must read is called, "He Leadeth Me". His faith grew during these 23 years. Or look at Corrie ten Boom :She was a woman admired the world over for her courage, her forgiveness, and her memorable faith. In World War II, she and her family risked their lives to help Jews escape the Nazis, and their reward was a trip to Hitler's concentration camps. But she survived (her sister and father were killed)and was released--as a result of a clerical error--and now shares the story of how faith triumphs over evil. For thirty-five years Corrie's dramatic life story, full of timeless virtues, has prepared readers to face their own futures with faith, relying on God's love to overcome, heal, and restore. Now releasing in a thirty-fifth anniversary edition for a new generation of readers, The Hiding Place tells the riveting story of how a middle-aged Dutch watchmaker became a heroine of the Resistance, a survivor of Hitler's death camps, and one of the most remarkable evangelists of the twentieth century.
I highly recommend that your read the Hiding Place or watch the movie "The Hiding Place". God's original plan did not include pain and suffering. We can thank Adam and Eve and their disobedience and arrogance. But God sent us a new Adam which is Christ and new Eve which is Mary our mother. He gives us the tools we need for healing and growth through the Church and her sacraments. So my friends hang in there (remember I'm preaching to myself as well!)
God has a plan for our lives and his ultimate goal is to make us Holy and prepare us for the next life when we will meet our Lord and His Father and the Holy Spirit face to face........God is good!
Jesus comes to open our eyes, to heal our wounds if we allow him in. Father Howard gave a wonderful sermon today on suffering. He said many people come to him all upset and think God has abandoned them or is punishing them when they go through difficult times. He said his response to them is "Have you read the Gospels?" Christ's friends will suffer. It is the difficult things in life that transforms us in to the image of our Lord. It's an opportunity for our Faith to grow. Father's sermon was like balm to my soul. A gentle reminder that life can and is very hard at times. That the Christian life is not about living in a comfort zone. It's about being made into the image and likeness of our Lord. If suffering was good enough for our Lord then it's good enough for us. All the Saints suffered. Why is it our natural response to think God has abandoned us in our time of suffering?
I was talking with a young gal and she had read about a Jewish man who became an atheist after surviving the Holocaust. She as many often ask that if there is a God how could he allow this? I shared with her that we all have a choice.....no matter how deep the hole God's love for us is deeper. We can harden our hearts or open them to God such as Father Walter Ciszek. He was falsely
convicted of being a "Vatican Spy" during WW II and imprisoned for 23 years in Soviet prisons and the labor camps of Siberia. His book which is a must read is called, "He Leadeth Me". His faith grew during these 23 years. Or look at Corrie ten Boom :She was a woman admired the world over for her courage, her forgiveness, and her memorable faith. In World War II, she and her family risked their lives to help Jews escape the Nazis, and their reward was a trip to Hitler's concentration camps. But she survived (her sister and father were killed)and was released--as a result of a clerical error--and now shares the story of how faith triumphs over evil. For thirty-five years Corrie's dramatic life story, full of timeless virtues, has prepared readers to face their own futures with faith, relying on God's love to overcome, heal, and restore. Now releasing in a thirty-fifth anniversary edition for a new generation of readers, The Hiding Place tells the riveting story of how a middle-aged Dutch watchmaker became a heroine of the Resistance, a survivor of Hitler's death camps, and one of the most remarkable evangelists of the twentieth century.
I highly recommend that your read the Hiding Place or watch the movie "The Hiding Place". God's original plan did not include pain and suffering. We can thank Adam and Eve and their disobedience and arrogance. But God sent us a new Adam which is Christ and new Eve which is Mary our mother. He gives us the tools we need for healing and growth through the Church and her sacraments. So my friends hang in there (remember I'm preaching to myself as well!)
God has a plan for our lives and his ultimate goal is to make us Holy and prepare us for the next life when we will meet our Lord and His Father and the Holy Spirit face to face........God is good!
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